Formation of Supermassive Black Holes via merger of Protostars

The origin of Supermassive Black Holes that are observed to exist in the early Universe is one of the key questions in astronomy. There are different models that try to explain how these black holes formed and grew in a short period of time. One such model is the collision of protostars resulting in massive stars that can eventually grow into supermassive black holes. Such collisions of protostars could take place within young star clusters in the early Universe. My goal will be to explore the merger of two protostars though computational simulations, to better understand how much of the mass actually remains in the new object after a collision. My host Dr. Dominik Schleicher has extensive experience in utilizing parallel computer codes for complex fluid dynamical calculations, and I will work closely with him on this project. The expertise gained will be brought back to Canada and can be used to train others as well as applied to new projects.

Faculty Supervisor:

Shantanu Basu

Student:

Partner:

Universidad de Concepción

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Information and Communications Technology; Education; Technology

University:

Western University

Program: