ESA Science & Technology - Merging Black Holes in Galaxies: Galaxy Evolution, AGN and Gravitational Waves

Start date: 16 Jun 2008
Address: Hydro Majestic Hotel, Medlow Bath, near Katoomba, Australia

The past decades have seen a growing appreciation for the fundamental role of mergers in shaping the range of galaxies and their nuclei in the local Universe. While some aspects of this role are becoming clear, a whole new range of questions has arisen regarding the time-scales for, and inter-play of, galaxy and super-massive black hole evolution. During this meeting the current understanding of the merger phenomenon and its aftermath is reviewed and the exciting prospect of direct detection of gravitational waves from SMBH mergers using precision pulsar timing measurements is considered.