The Active Social Lives of Big Black Holes

It is now clear that most normal galaxies have a big black hole, with between a million and ten billion suns in mass, in their nucleus. However, in addition to being the monstrous cosmic maws of popular characterization, these black holes can interact strongly and subtly with their environment. They can attract gas and cause it to shine more brightly than their galactic hosts. They can use their rotation to create twin jets flowing outwards with speeds close to that of light. They can shatter stars which wander too close. They can also acquire massive black hole partners which become locked in an ecstatic dance before merging and creating a burst of gravitatlonal waves. We have learned, are learning and should soon learn much more about each of these interactions, as I shall try to illustrate.

Speaker: Roger Blandford, Stanford University

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