Seminar held by Francesco Tombesi

Unleashing the Fury: Exploring the Power and Impact of Black Hole Winds

Black hole winds are powerful outflows of gas and energy that emanate from the centers of active galaxies (AGN). These winds are driven by the intense radiation, magnetic fields, and high-energy particles produced by supermassive black holes (SMBHs), which can have masses up to billions of suns. Their most powerful manifestation, the ultra-fast outflows (UFOs), can reach velocities up to half of the speed of light and carry significant amounts of mass and energy away from the SMBH. In this talk, we will explore some of the latest research on black hole winds, including X-ray and multi-wavelength observations and new models to constrain their properties. We will also briefly discuss the role that black hole winds play shaping the evolution of galaxies over cosmic time and the ways in which they may be related to other high-energy phenomena, such as variable AGN, SMBH binaries, tidal disruption events, and extragalactic multi-messenger astrophysics. Lastly, we will illustrate some recent results from a new twist on this topic, concerning the influence of SMBH activity on the habitability of planets in galaxies. The study of black hole winds is a rapidly evolving field that has important implications for our understanding of astrophysics, and this talk will provide an overview on our current studies and some future prospects in this exciting area.

Room U2-2016