Super-massive Black Holes and Galaxy Properties

Advisors: Professor Tom Quinn and Michael Tremmel

Description: From our own Milky Way to large galaxies at the centers of clusters, it appears that all galaxies host at least one large black hole at their center. While we call these central black holes “Super-massive’’, they are quite small compared to the galaxy as a whole. Therefore the question arises: what effects can these black holes have on the overall properties of the galaxy? Black holes are presumed to power the jets (see image) and Active Galactic Nuclei which are energetic enough to influence the gas in entire galaxy and beyond, but what is the overall effect on the size and shape of the host galaxy? One way to answer this question is to simulate the physics of this process in computer models of a large number of galaxies, and correlate the properties of the black holes with the properties of the galaxies that host them.

In this project, you will be exploring data from a computer model run on one of the largest supercomputers in the country, where a patch of the Universe containing hundreds of galaxies has been simulated. You will use web-based and graphical tools to explore these galaxies, identify the ones with large or active black holes, and discover the correlations between the black hole properties and the properties of the galaxies.

Project Skills: python/numpy/pylab