Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma

Linking massive black hole spin evolution to galactic dynamics
2016-02-23 11:45 - 12:45 (Europe/Rome) | Aula Gratton
The evolution of the spin of massive black holes (MBHs) is driven by accretion of gas and/or by black hole binary coalescences. I will discuss the physical processes involved in the MBH spin evolution, and present the results of a semi-analytical model that manages to reproduce the distribution of spins obtained from X-ray spectroscopy.

Metals outside galaxies: what do we learn from observations?
2016-02-16 11:45 - 12:45
The observed properties and evolution of galaxies in the Universe require the existence of feedback mechanisms regulating the star formation and finally quenching it. The presence of winds, possibly transporting the gas outside the viral radius, has been confirmed observationally in local and high redshift objects. In this talk, I will briefly review how scientist have confirmed the presence of heavy elements outside galaxies using the observation of QSO absorption lines and I will present and discuss new results based on the highest signal-to-noise ratio, high resolution QSO spectrum ever obtained.

May a single hypothesis to explain most of the mysteries of the universe?
2016-02-09 11:45 - 12:45
A single hypothesis on the properties of the gravitational interaction
in the presence of antimatter could explain, simultaneously: the asymmetry
between matter and antimatter at cosmic level, the inflation, the effects attributed
to dark matter and dark energy, and at elementary particle level CPV and the arrow of time.

The early growth of (super)massive black holes
2016-02-02 11:45 - 12:45
With detections of quasars powered by increasingly massive black holes
(BH) at increasingly early times in cosmic history over the past decade,
there has been correspondingly rapid progress made on the theory of early
BH formation and growth. I review the emerging picture of how the first
massive BHs formed from the primordial gas and then grew to supermassive
scales, and discuss the initial conditions for the formation of the
progenitors of these seed BHs, the factors dictating the initial masses
with which they form, and their initialstages of growth via accretion,
which may occur at super-Eddington rates.

Exploring the realm of an AGN
2016-01-26 11:45 - 13:00
The environment of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is the result of accretion and injection of matter in and around a supermassive black hole. Through high resolution X-ray spectroscopy of both present and future instruments, the most extreme gas environments of the AGN can be studied. In this talk I will present our recent results on outflows and obscuration in AGN. I will also illustrate the tremendous improvement that future instruments will offer in this field.
