Tamara Bogdanovic
Georgia Institute of Technology, GA·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Most large galaxies host a massive black hole at their center. When galaxies merge, their black holes can form a pair, a massive black hole binary (MBHB), that slowly spirals inward.
- Fields
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Physics
- Topics
massive black hole binaries
supermassive black holes
gravitational waves
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2027
What they work on
- Model the time-dependent X-ray brightness and spectra expected from massive black hole binaries as they spiral toward merger while emitting gravitational waves.
- Identify correlations between X-ray and gravitational wave signatures of inspiraling binaries that could link observations from X-ray telescopes with detections by Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs) and LISA.
- Show how combined X-ray and gravitational wave signals can measure binary properties, producing predictions to guide X-ray observing strategies for current and future observatories.
More about the research
As the pair spirals in, it sends out gravitational waves, ripples in spacetime. Such binaries are expected to exist but have not yet been definitively confirmed. Finding one would reveal more about its host galaxy and allow tests of fundamental laws of physics. Detecting the same system through both gravitational waves and light, known as multimessenger astronomy, would be especially valuable.
Why it matters
This is basic astrophysics. Predicted X-ray signatures of merging massive black holes could tell observers what to look for and when. That could help confirm a class of objects that has not yet been definitively observed. Pairing X-ray and gravitational wave data could reveal the properties of these binaries and their host galaxies and allow tests of fundamental physics.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Adi Foord
University of Maryland-Baltimore County, MD·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Determine how often supermassive black holes merge by using AI to identify galaxy mergers and dual active galactic nuclei (pairs of feeding black holes) in large imaging surveys, and relate these rates to gravitational wave observations.
Antonios Tsokaros
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Develop an open-source general relativistic initial data code, based on the COCAL (Compact Object CALculator) code, that lets users set up starting conditions for magnetized neutron stars and black holes, alone or in binaries.
Ann-Marie Madigan
University of Colorado Boulder, CO·Astronomy & Astrophysics
Test whether Andromeda's lopsided, eccentric disk of stars in its nucleus records a gravitational-wave recoil kick, by comparing N-body computer simulations of a past major merger with observations of the nucleus.
The school
Georgia Institute of Technology: 50 labs on PI Pages, $1.5B a year on research, 572 research doctorates a year.
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