The black hole in the center of the Milky Way, Sgr A*, is the most massive among all the known black holes in our galaxy. Is also by far the closest among all the supermassive black holes in the universe. This combination of a large mass and a small distance makes Sgr A* the ultimate test-bed of high-energy and gravitational astrophysics in the strong field regime. In the near future, major developments in instrumentation will provide the tools for high-precision studies of its space-time via observations of relativistic effects in stellar orbits, in the timing of pulsars, and in horizon-scale images of its accretion flow. In the proposed research project, the PI and his collaborators will investigate the astrophysical complexities that may limit precise measurements of the black-hole properties with each technique and devise ways to overcome them. This work will allow them to capitalize on the NSF investment in technologies, such as the Event Horizon Telescope and the GBT, as well as on the construction of a GPU-based computer cluster at the University of Arizona that became possible through an NSF-MRI award.
During the proposed project, one graduate student will be educated in predicting the strong-field properties of astrophysical black holes and in implementing statistical tools for analyzing future data. The PI and CoPI are also committed to the broader dissemination of the research activities in the scientific community by organizing interdisciplinary scientific conferences during the time of the proposed project. They are also engaged in communicating the scientific results to the general public via non-technical public lectures and demonstrations.
