The Monster's Fiery Breath: Black Hole Feedback in Galaxies, Galaxy Groups, and Galaxy Clusters; June 1-5, 2009; University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A large body of work has led to the conclusion that black hole feedback can play a critical role in the evolution of galaxies and of the large scale environment in which they reside. However, it remains unclear when feedback is most important, or even if it is a viable way to deliver the energy needed to heat clusters, groups, and galaxies. This meeting will bring the leading researchers in this field together, to debate the state of the art and to formulate the critical questions that must be addressed before the next big step: an observationally grounded, quantitative, self-consistent picture of black hole feedback. This assembly of theorists, numericists, and observers, should synthesize a more comprehensive picture of black hole growth in the context of structure formation, define clearly the outstanding theoretical and observational issues, and engage the next generation of scientists in discussing a frontier problem of astrophysics.
The organizers expect significant involvement by students from underrepresented groups, due to their active recruitment effort. The meeting includes undergraduate lunches with conference speakers and a public lecture, to place conference highlights into a context accessible to a broad, public audience.
