Research
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2025.07.09
The Population of LISA MBHBs: What we have learned from simulations
Massive black holes (MBHs) are found in the centres of most massive galaxies. When two galaxies merge, their respective MBHs are brought together, some of them will eventually coalesce and become powerful sources of gravitational waves (GWs). The detection of GWs from stellar-mass black hole binaries by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) marked the dawn of the GW ast...
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2025.07.09
Galaxy growth from the early universe to cosmic noon
Over the past few years, JWST's exquisite sensitivity, wavelength coverage and resolution have dramatically advanced observational studies of distant galaxies. Ground-based facilities have added to this complementary views from wide-area imaging, integral-field spectroscopy and (sub)-mm probes. In this talk, I will share recent discoveries on rapidly maturing galaxies from the first billion yea...
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2025.06.19
Probing wandering black holes with off-nuclear tidal disruption events
The hierarchical assembly of galaxies and dynamics in galactic nuclei naturally predict a significant population of off-nuclear massive black holes (MBHs), yet direct observational evidence remains scarce. The demographics of these off-nuclear MBHs offer critical insights into the formation of MBH mergers, the nature of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies, and the co-evolution of MBHs and their host g...
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2025.06.16
Towards a new generation of reflection models for precision measurements of accreting black holes
Blurred reflection features are commonly observed in the X-ray spectra of accreting black holes. In the presence of high-quality data and with the correct astrophysical model, X-ray reflection spectroscopy is a powerful tool to probe the strong gravity region of black holes, study the morphology of the accreting matter, measure black hole spins, and test Einstein's theory of General Relativity ...
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2025.06.11
Local Group Analogs in a cosmological context: Relating the velocity structure to the cosmic web
The Local Group (LG), as a gravitationally bound system of the Milky Way and Andromeda, as well as their satellites, is a cornerstone of near-field cosmology. However, its utility as a cosmological probe requires understanding how it is related to the cosmic web. Using the ABACUSSUMMIT simulation, we identify LG analogues and quantify their environmental dependence. We find that the coupling en...
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