Nuclear Star Cluster and Black-Hole Activity in AGNs
by
Tsung-Dao Lee Institute/S4F-SW - Open Area
Tsung-Dao Lee Institute
Host: Zhen Pan
Location: Open Area (4F-SW)
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Meeting ID: 324859508 (no password）
Abstract:
The discovery of young stars within the central parsec of the Milky Way, together with the supersolar metallicities observed in the broad-line regions of active galactic nuclei (AGN), points to vigorous star formation and evolution in the immediate vicinity of supermassive black holes (SMBHs). The interplay between these stellar populations and the central black hole in such dense nuclear environments can trigger a rich variety of time-domain and multi-messenger phenomena, including tidal disruption events (TDEs), changing-look AGN, extreme mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs), and mergers of massive stellar-mass binary black holes. These processes provide unique insights into the nuclear environment and hold the key to understanding the co-evolution of galaxies and their central SMBHs. Moreover, recent JWST observations have revealed a population of high-redshift compact galaxies—such as the "little red dots"—whose sizes and stellar densities closely resemble those of nuclear star clusters in the local Universe. I will also present a novel model aimed at explaining the peculiar properties of these intriguing objects.
Biography:
Qingwen Wu is now a Professor in the Department of Astronomy at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. His primary research interests include: AGN and black hole accretion/jet physics, the environments of galactic nuclei and multi-messenger astronomy, and the co-evolution of galaxies and their central black holes.
