The National Science Foundation Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences awarded a $367,174 Project Grant to the University of Illinois under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences federal grant program (CFDA 47.049). The grant will fund the "Frequency and Abundance of Binary Supermassive Black Holes from Optical Variability Surveys" project from September 1, 2022 through August 31, 2025.
The University of Illinois will systematically identify and characterize binary supermassive black holes (SMBHs) through analysis of long-term photometric and spectroscopic surveys. Researchers will analyze radial velocity shifts in active galactic nucleus broad emission lines to identify sub-parsec binary SMBHs, and search for periodically variable active galactic nuclei to find milli-parsec binaries. This work will provide a database of robust binary SMBH candidates to determine their abundance and inform forecasts for gravitational wave detection. The grant also supports outreach to promote diversity in science. Overall, the project aims to advance understanding of accretion disk physics and supermassive black hole feeding and feedback through observational characterization of binary SMBHs.
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