What triggers the growth of Black Holes? at University of Sheffield on FindAPhD.com

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Dr J Mullaney Applications accepted all year round Self-Funded PhD Students Only

About the Project

It seems that all massive galaxies host, at their centres, supermassive black holes with masses of between a million to a billion times the mass of our Sun. These black holes have grown over time by accreting gas and dust from their surrounding galaxies. However, what causes this gas to fall toward the black hole is very poorly understood. One possibility is that galaxy mergers help to funnel gas toward the black hole, but not all accretion events are associated with mergers. Similarly, stellar winds may also help to drive material onto the black hole but, again, not all growing black holes are observed in star-forming galaxies. In this project, you will study large samples of galaxies to determine what are the main drivers of black hole growth in the Universe, and whether - and if so how - this has changed over the last 13.6 billion years.

For more information on this project please contact [Email Address Removed] Information on the Sheffield Astrophysics Group can be found at https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/physics/research/astrophysics .

Funding Notes

It is very unlikely that this project will come with a studentship, but those with alternative sources of funding are encouraged to apply. Full details on how to apply can be found at https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/phd .

Where will I study?

University of Sheffield

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