Collaborative Research: A New Model of AGN Accretion Disks Dominated by Strong Magnetic Fields

Black holes swallowing gas produce the brightest, most powerful sources of radiation in the Universe. That energy can dramatically change everything around the black hole, fundamentally reshaping how stars and galaxies form. This project will develop a new generation of models for gas inflow into black holes, with strong magnetic fields that can completely change how these systems behave. Black holes are one of the topics in modern science that most excites the public and stimulates a younger generation to explore scientific careers. This project will engage directly with that effort by training graduate students in science and by producing scientific results that can be communicated to the broader public through talks and movies available on YouTube and used in planetaria and other venues. Our understanding of supermassive black hole growth and accretion, as well as feedback on galaxy formation, is at a transformative juncture. Theoretical models are finally able to connect realistic models of the interstellar medium on galactic scales to the inner black hole accretion disk. This project will support study of a new class of strongly magnetized black hole accretion disks, including their theoretical properties and their connection to observations of the massive black hole ecosystem. Collectively the proposed work will dramatically advance our understanding of black hole growth and the properties of active galactic nuclei. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.