Research Seminars @ Illinois

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Tailored for undergraduate researchers, this calendar is a curated list of research seminars at the University of Illinois. Explore the diverse world of research and expand your knowledge through engaging sessions designed to inspire and enlighten.

To have your events added or removed from this calendar, please contact OUR at ugresearch@illinois.edu

Astrophysics, Relativity, and Cosmology Seminar - Alex Lupsasca (Vanderbilt) "The Black Hole Photon Ring"

Event Type: Seminar/Symposium
Sponsor: Department of Physics
Location: Loomis 464
Virtual
Date: Oct 9, 2024 12:00 pm
Speaker: Alex Lupsasca
Contact: Deanna Frye
E-Mail: ddebord@illinois.edu
Views: 30
Originating Calendar: Physics - Astrophysics, Relativity, and Cosmology Seminar; What does a black hole look like? The first images of the supermassive black hole M87* display a bright ring encircling the event horizon, which appears as a dark patch in its surrounding emission. But Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that within this image there also lies a thin "photon ring" consisting of multiple mirror images of the main emission. These images arise from photons that orbited around the black hole multiple times, probing the warped space-time geometry just outside its horizon. The photon ring carries an imprint of the strong gravity in this region and encodes fundamental properties of the black hole. A measurement of this predicted (but not yet observed) ring could provide a precise test of general relativity and will be one of the main targets of a NASA mission proposed to fly within the next decade: the Black Hole Explorer (BHEX).

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