The edge of infinity : supermassive black holes in the universe /
Fulvio Melia.
- Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2003.
- 1 online resource (ix, 148 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).
Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).
1. The most powerful objects in the universe -- 1.1. Beacons at the edge of reality -- 1.2. The host galaxies of quasars -- 1.3. The active nuclei of "normal" galaxies -- 2. Weighing supermassive objects -- 2.1. Accretion of plasma -- 2.2. Deciphering the signal from the infalling gas -- 2.3. The center of our galaxy -- 3. The black hole spacetime -- 3.1. The inexorable force of gravity -- 3.2. Unseen dimensions -- 3.3. Matter's futile resistance to total collapse -- 3.4. The black hole spacetime -- 3.5. Rotating black holes -- 4. Formation of supermassive black holes -- 4.1. Primordial seeds -- 4.2. Galaxy types -- 4.3. The supermassive black hole census -- 4.4. Galaxy collisions -- 4.5. Collision of Andromeda with the Milky Way -- 4.6. Middleweight black holes -- 5. Relativistic ejection of plasma -- 5.1. Imaging supermassive black holes -- 5.2. Jets from supermassive black holes -- 5.3. Faster than light motion -- 6. Supermassive black holes in the universe -- 6.1. The Hubble Deep Field -- 6.2. The Chandra Deep Filed -- 6.3. The universe aglow -- 6.4. Future directions -- 6.5. Is the universe itself a big black hole? -- 6.6. Ultimate fate.
In the past, they were recognized as the most destructive force in nature. Now, following a cascade of astonishing discoveries, supermassive black holes have undergone a dramatic shift in paradigm. Astronomers are finding out that these objects may have been critical to the formation of structure in the early universe, spawning bursts of star formation, planets, and even life itself. They may have contributed as much as half of all the radiation produced after the Big Bang, and as many as 200 million of them may now be lurking through the vast expanses of the observable cosmos. In this elegant, non-technical account, Melia conveys for the general reader the excitement generated by the quest to expose what these giant distortions in the fabric of space and time have to say about our origin and ultimate destiny.