Events

Accretion on supermassive black holes (SMBHs) is often accompanied by energy and momentum outflow in the form of jets and winds. This feedback can modify the gas conditions in the surrounding galaxy and thus plays an important role in galaxy evolution. At the same time, the gas conditions in the galaxy determine how much gas feeds into the black hole, thereby determining the evolution of mass, spin and feedback efficiency of the SMBH.

The strongly coupled feeding-feedback problem is notoriously difficult to handle self-consistently in numerical studies of galaxy-SMBH evolution because of the enormous range of scales involved, which is typically eight or nine orders of magnitude. Since current numerical techniques are unable to bridge the vast range of scales, the coupling is generally handled via ad hoc sub-grid prescriptions with adjustable parameters tuned to reproduce observations. This Workshop aims to discuss strategies for transitioning toward a more first-principles treatment of the feeding-feedback problem using new techniques to bridge scales.

The Workshop will take place at the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard University, on Tuesday, May 28, 2024. It will bring together a small group of experts and interested scientists who will consider current progress on the Bridging Scales Problem and will discuss avenues for future work. The Workshop Schedule will consist of a small number of talks by relevant experts, each followed by extended time for discussion.

Logistics

The Center for Astrophysics is located at 60 Garden Street, Cambridge. Convenient hotels include: The Sheraton Commander Hotel, the Porter Square Hotel, the DoubleTree Suites Boston-Cambridge, and the Homewood Suites by Hilton. Participants are urged to book early as the meeting is soon after Harvard Commencement, so hotel rooms are likely to be in demand.