Letters of Intent received in 2015

LoI 2017-287
Galaxy Evolution and Feedback Across Cosmic Time

Topics

Formation and growth of supermassive black holes (SMBHs)

Radiation, winds, and jets from SMBHs

"Radio mode" and "quasar mode" feedback and their underlying accretion models

Feedback from star formation and SNe across cosmic time

Future perspectives on feedback processes in the era of e.g., ALMA, SKA, JWST

Mechanisms for quenching/fueling star formation and SMBH accretion including environmental factors

Evolution of stellar populations, star formation rates, gas content, and AGN populations over cosmological time

Rationale

The physical processes that couple the growth of supermassive black holes (SMBH) to their host galaxies -- the so-called feedback processes, are now necessary ingredients in galaxy evolution models, not only regulating the growth of the galaxies but also influencing their environments at all scales. Radio jets extending to hundreds of thousands of kpc, their interaction with ambient gas producing X-ray, optical and infrared emission, relic X-ray cavities observed in galaxy clusters, outflows observed in neutral, ionized and molecular gas, are all observed manifestations of these feedback phenomena. Instruments including Gamma-ray and X-ray satellites, the Hubble Space Telescope, integral field spectrographs on 8-10m class telescopes and radio observations, including the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, have been dedicating increasing fractions of their time to observe and characterize these phenomena and constrain the relevant physical mechanisms. A coordinated multi-wavelength observational and combined theoretical effort is key to advancement in this field. We thus plan to bring together observers from across the electromagnetic spectrum with theorists to understand the interplay between the growth of supermassive black holes and galaxy evolution, from the earliest epochs to the present day Universe. The symposium would both continue the progress made to the present day and extend the discussion to directly address AGN and galaxy interactions at low and high redshifts. Detailed studies at low and high redshift will be possible with future, more powerful observatories, both on the ground (notably LSST, E-ELT, GMT, and TMT in the optical and infrared and JVLA, SKA, GMRT, LOFAR in the radio) as well as space missions (e.g., James Webb, Euclid, WFIRST, ATHENA, ATLAST, X-ray Surveyor) and we would include discussions that describe the capabilities of these missions, thus motivating future observations.

We would include a significant outreach activity in the region and would involve both local high schools and nearby universities. In particular, we expect to organize a close relationship with students at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFGRS). UFRGS has almost 30,000 students (more than 5000 pursuing doctoral degrees) with more than 2500 faculty.