Speaker
Prof.
Avery Broderick
(University of Waterloo, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)
Description
The Event Horizon Telescope, a millimetre-wave Earth-sized interferometer, provides unprecedented access to the physics and astrophysics of supermassive black holes. Already observed, the black holes at the centres of the Milky Way and the giant elliptical galaxy M87 provide a glimpse into the mechanisms of accretion, relativistic jet formation, and even the nature of black holes themselves. I will discuss how interpreting these observations within a highly successful theoretical framework and broader observational context has allowed us to begin to answer some of the fundamental questions in black hole science, including the nature of low-luminosity accretion flows, the role of spin in powering relativistic outflows, and structure of spacetimes around astrophysical black holes.
Author
Prof.
Avery Broderick
(University of Waterloo, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)
