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1/21/16: SO/NOAO Joint Colloquium Series: Ian McGreer, Steward

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Title: Growing Supermassive Black Holes at High Redshift

Abstract:
Observations have consistently shown that nearby massive galaxies host supermassive black holes. Their existence points to a history of spectacular growth as traced by observations of luminous quasars. Reconstructing this history provides insight not only into the buildup of massive black holes, but also the connection between black hole activity and galaxy evolution, as well as the evolution of the intergalactic medium. I will discuss two observational programs designed to improve our understanding of the high redshift evolution of quasars. First, the SDSS Reverberation Mapping campaign is a multi-year effort to measure broad emission line time lags for a large sample of luminous, high-redshift quasars, using the Sloan, CFHT, and Bok telescopes. SDSS-RM will provide the first direct calibrations of virial black hole mass estimators based on rest-UV emission lines for quasars with similar properties to those assembled by large surveys such as the SDSS. Second, I will present observations of the faint end of the quasar population at z>4, with a focus on understanding the role that feedback plays in the early growth of black holes. A surprising result from recent surveys is that the break in the quasar luminosity function appears to shift to continuously higher luminosities with redshift, indicating the most massive black holes formed at very early times.

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