Public talk: Through the Kaleidoscope: The Multicolor Music of Supermassive Black Holes

Speaker: Prof. Krista Lynne Smith (Texas A&M)

Abstract: The space-time distortion caused by supermassive black holes provides a unique laboratory for violent physical processes. Synthesizing observations across many wavelengths and studying their time variability at slow and rapid timescales promises a new, dynamic, thorough understanding of how black holes form and grow, how they consume material, how they launch powerful relativistic jets, and how they bend the evolution of galaxies to a path that matches our observations of the Universe. I will discuss a brief history of our understanding of these fascinating objects, and discuss how multicolor, time-varying data from new missions has opened new windows into their nature. I will also discuss the rich multi-messenger future of black hole observations, including both neutrinos and gravitational waves.