Physics & Astronomy Colloquium – Dr. Jillian Bellovary

About the event

The Department of Physics and Astronomy invites you to a colloquium featuring Dr. Jillian Bellovary, Queensborough Community College. Dr. Bellovary will present her talk, “Multimessenger Signatures of Massive Black Holes in Dwarf Galaxies”  via Zoom.

https://wsu.zoom.us/j/91067075085?pwd=RUZtZnhEVTUrcFoxM0tOL01iODRtZz09

Meeting ID: 910 6707 5085
Passcode: PhysAstro 

ABSTRACT: Recent discoveries of dwarf galaxies hosting active galactic nuclei (AGN) suggest that massive black holes (MBHs) may be a common occurrence in such low-mass systems.  I examine the occupation fraction and characteristics of MBHs in dwarf galaxies using the MARVEL-ous Dwarfs and DC Justice League samples of high resolution cosmological simulations.  Approximately 50% of MBHs in the dwarfs are off-center, as a result of being perturbed by a merger with another dwarf galaxy.  The simulations include a subgrid model for dynamical friction; thus these off-center MBHs are a true dynamical consequence of mergers, and not a numerical effect.  I examine prospects for detecting such MBHs using stellar dynamics, light, and gravitational waves.