The role of supermassive black holes for the evolution of galaxies — state-of-the-art and future perspectives

Modern galaxy formation simulations provide reasonable models for the cosmic formation histories of supermassive black holes, and the interaction with their host galaxies. When combined with observations from current and upcoming forefront telescopes, like HST, JWST, EUCLID, or ELT, these models can reveal the physical state of galaxies and their black holes even at early cosmic epochs. After reviewing the current state of the art of the theory of the co-evolution of supermassive black holes and galaxies, a novel method for modelling optical and UV emission lines of simulated galaxies is presented. Emission line ratios in observed galaxy spectra are used to trace the physical conditions for star formation and supermassive black hole growth. We demonstrate how such an analysis can be exploited in the next decade with forefront observational facilities, to design novel high-redshift observational programs, and to validate or falsify current theoretical models on black hole processes. 

Biography:
Prof. Michaela Hirschmann received her PhD in astrophysics at the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich and at the Max Planck Institute for extraterrestrial physics (with Prof Burkert, 2011). Her research interests evolve around modelling the cosmic evolution of galaxies and their supermassive black holes, using a mix of different numerical techniques, to provide a theoretical backbone for the planning and interpretation of current and future observational, extragalactic missions.  Prior to joining EPFL, she has held two postdoctoral positions, she has been twice a visiting professor at the University of Vienna, and a non-tenure-track assistant professor at DARK, University of Copenhagen. She is the recipient of several postdoctoral fellowships (e.g. Feodor-Lynen from the Humboldt foundation), and in 2020, she won a PRIMA research grant awarded by SNSF. Since March 2022, she is the head of the newly funded research laboratory for “galaxy evolution and spectral modelling” at EPFL.