[SEMINARI] [SPECIAL LECTURE] Supermassive black holes and relativistic jets in active galaxies, Andrei Lobanov

[Enric Marco]

Supermassive black holes and relativistic jets in active galaxies

Andrei Lobanov

Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Bonn, Germany

Seminari d'Astronomia i Astrofísica

Divendres 12 novembre 2010

11:30

Resum

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) powered by accretion of matter onto 
supermassive black holes (SMBH) are the most powerful sources of energy 
in the Universe. The bulk of this energy is channeled through broad-band 
emission and collimated outflows (jets). Relativistic jets, formed in 
the vicinity of central SMBH in AGN, show ample evidence connecting them 
to physical conditions in the AGN, particularly in the accretion disc 
and broad-line region. Imaging and polarimetry of radio emission from 
relativistic jets on finest angular scales provided by radio 
interferometry offers a range of possibilities for studying extreme 
vicinity of SMBH. This provides an excellent tool for probing the 
physical conditions in the extreme vicinity of SMBH and in the nuclear 
regions of active galaxies. Very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) 
experiments at millimetre wavelengths and with ground-space 
interferometers approach now a resolution sufficient to image the event 
horizon scales in the SMBH of the Milky Way and nearby galaxies. Recent 
results and prospects of studies of supermassive black holes and their 
vicinity with millimetre VLBI and space VLBI experiments will be 
discussed, with particular focus brought on detecting general relativity 
effects in the immediate vicinity of SMBH and answering the fundamental 
question of the physical nature of the central massive objects in galaxies.

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 Dr. Enric Marco
 Departament d'Astronomia i Astrofísica
 Facultat de Física
 Universitat de València
 C/  Dr. Moliner, 50
 46100 Burjassot, Spain
 Phone: (34)-96-354-3069
 Fax:(34)-96-354-3084
 enric.marco en uv.es
 http://www.uv.es/marco
 http://www.uv.es/aulaastronomia
 http://www.uv.es/daa
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