#PizzaSeminar
Title: “A link to the past: Searching for wandering intermediate-mass black holes in the Milky Way”
Speaker: Julen Untzaga San Vicente, Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC)
Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs), with masses in the range 100 – 1.000.000 M⊙, are the link between stellar-mass and supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and the possible seeds from which SMBHs in the early Universe grew via accretion and mergers. Theoretical models support that a fraction of these IMBH seeds did not grow into SMBHs, and instead remained in the intermediate-mass regime up until z = 0. Therefore, characterizing the properties and formation mechanisms of the seed IMBHs found in the local Universe is essential for a complete understanding of the IMBH and SMBH populations throughout cosmic history.
My research focuses on improving the general understanding of the long predicted wandering black hole (WBH) population in the Milky Way (MW) by combining both observational and computational work. On the observational side, I have utilized data from the Pan-STARRS-1, Hyper Suprime-Cam, and Gaia surveys to search for hyper-compact clusters of old, low-metallicity stars in the MW halo, which are potential indicators of the presence of WBHs. On the computational side, I have employed the L-Galaxies semi-analytic code that is built upon the dark-matter simulation Millenium-II to characterize the WBH population in MW-type galaxies at z = 0.
By integrating observational and computational techniques, this work aims to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the WBH population in the MW and its implications for the broader field of astrophysics.
[ad_2]
source
-
-
-
-
