The Edge of Infinity : Supermassive Black Holes in the Universe

Preface vii 1 The most powerful objects in the universe 1(16) 1.1 Beacons at the edge of reality 3(7) 1.2 The host galaxies of quasars 10(4) 1.3 The active nuclei of "normal" galaxies 14(3) 2 Weighing supermassive objects 17(17) 2.1 Accretion of plasma 20(5) 2.2 Deciphering the signal from the infalling gas 25(5) 2.3 The center of our galaxy 30(4) 3 The black hole spacetime 34(29) 3.1 The inexorable force of gravity 34(4) 3.2 Unseen dimensions 38(6) 3.3 Matter's futile resistance to total collapse 44(8) 3.4 The black hole spacetime 52(4) 3.5 Rotating black holes 56(7) 4 Formation of supermassive black holes 63(29) 4.1 Primordial seeds 64(10) 4.2 Galaxy types 74(3) 4.3 The supermassive black hole census 77(5) 4.4 Galaxy collisions 82(3) 4.5 Collision of Andromeda with the Milky Way 85(4) 4.6 Middleweight black holes 89(3) 5 Relativistic ejection of plasma 92(19) 5.1 Imaging supermassive black holes 97(2) 5.2 jets from supermassive black holes 99(4) 5.3 Faster than light motion 103(8) 6 Supermassive black holes in the universe 111(23) 6.1 The Hubble Deep Field 111(1) 6.2 The Chandra Deep Field 112(1) 6.3 The universe aglow 113(2) 6.4 Future directions 115(4) 6.5 Is the universe itself a big black hole? 119(10) 6.6 Ultimate fate 129(5) References 134(8) Index 142