When Galaxies Collide, What Happens to their Supermassive Black Holes?

This event is sponsored by the Georgia Tech School of Physics as part of their "Inquiring Minds @ Tech" Public Lecture Series and will be hosted by Ed Greco (https://www.physics.gatech.edu/user/edwin-greco). There are no social activities yet planned for this meetup.

Consult this Google map (https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=204261588215466303606.00043e45acbc23bdb153d&msa=0) for nearby parking options. The talk will be in room 144.

When Galaxies Collide, What Happens to their Supermassive Black Holes?
Tamara Bogdanovic, Assistant Professor
School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology

http://photos2.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/9/4/e/a/event_175298122.jpegGalaxy collisions and mergers are a common consequence of the structure formation in the universe. We know that they happen because we see a number of beautiful examples on the sky through the "eyes" of many astronomical observatories. It is also thought that almost every galaxy (including our own, the Milky Way) harbors a supermassive black hole at its center. Georgia Tech astrophysicist, Tamara Bogdanovic, will discuss the "knowns" and "unknowns" in the evolution of supermassive black hole pairs that form in collisions of their host galaxies and end their cosmic journey when the two blackholes merge due to the emission of gravitational waves.

Photo: Tamara Bogdanovic (Georgia Tech)