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HEISENBERG, BOHR, AND EINSTEIN. “This exploration brought them in contact with a strange and unexpected reality that shattered the foundations of their world view and forced them to think in entirely new ways. The material world they observed no longer appeared as a machine, made up of a multitude of separate objects, but rather as an indivisible whole; a network of relationships that included the human observer in an essential way.” (Welcome to Wonderland!). https://lnkd.in/d9WF55y View in LinkedIn

ORIGINS OF HUGENESS. “Several theories have been postulated for the origin of SMBH seeds. Some of the leading candidates are: (a) Population III star remnants (100–1000 M⊙, form at 15 < z < 30), (b) Direct collapse black holes (104–106 M⊙, form at 10 < z < 20), and (c) Collapsing stellar clusters (∼103 M⊙, form at high or low z).” (M⊙ = unit of celestial mass; SMBH = supermassive black hole). https://lnkd.in/dYX7TQV View in LinkedIn

WHAT PERSPECTIVE!! “The idea of IMBHs as SMBH seeds is appealing because of the sheer difficulty in creating a 109 M⊙ SMBH in less than one billion years.” (IMBHs = intermediate mass black holes; SMBH = supermassive black holes). https://lnkd.in/dYX7TQV View in LinkedIn

FILLING THE GAP. “The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will demystify IMBHs by detecting the mergers of these objects out to extremely high redshifts, while measuring their masses with extremely high precision. These observations of merging IMBHs will allow us to constrain the formation mechanism and subsequent evolution of massive black holes, from the ‘dark ages’ to the present day.” (IMBHs = intermediate mass black holes). https://lnkd.in/dYX7TQV View in LinkedIn

SEEDS OF MASSIVENESS. “In one theorized formation channel, IMBHs are the seeds for supermassive black holes in the early universe. As a result, IMBHs are predicted to exist in the local universe in dwarf galaxies, as well as wandering in more massive galaxy halos.” (IMBHs = intermediate mass black holes). https://lnkd.in/dYX7TQV View in LinkedIn

MASS GAP. “The previously assumed ‘mass gap’ between stellar black holes (∼1–100 M⊙) and supermassive black holes (SMBHs; ∼106–109 M⊙) may be filled in, though to what extent is still very uncertain.” (IMBHs = intermediate mass black holes (102–105 M⊙): M⊙ = unit of celestial mass). https://lnkd.in/dYX7TQV View in LinkedIn

MISSING CATEGORY. “Where are the Intermediate Mass Black Holes? Observational evidence has been mounting for the existence of intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs, 102–105 M⊙), but observing them at all, much less constraining their masses, is very challenging.” (M⊙ = unit of celestial mass). https://lnkd.in/dYX7TQV View in LinkedIn

QUESTION OF OPTICS. “One major challenge for observations of IMBHs is dynamical. The radius of influence of a black hole scales linearly with its mass; thus it is difficult to detect the influence of IMBHs on nearby stars without extremely high spatial resolution.” (IMBHs = intermediate mass black holes). https://lnkd.in/dYX7TQV View in LinkedIn

PROMISING CANDIDATE. “If such objects were to experience a rapid accretion event, they would be seen as (likely off-nuclear) ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs). ULXs are common in star-forming regions and are often attributed to neutron stars or stellar black holes experiencing Eddington or super-Eddington accretion, or beamed emission.” (ULXs = ultra-luminous X-ray sources). https://lnkd.in/dYX7TQV View in LinkedIn

LEGO BLOCKS. “Network expansion was performed with a seed set of eight compounds thought to have been available in prebiotic environments, notably lacking phosphate.” https://lnkd.in/dcwZe7b View in LinkedIn