Chasing the Light: Shadowing, Collimation, and the Rapid Growth of Infant Black Holes


Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have uncovered a substantial population of high-redshift broad-line active galactic nuclei (AGNs) characterized by moderate luminosities, weak X-ray emissions, and faint high-ionization lines, challenging conventional models of AGN activity. In this talk, I will propose that these sources are accreting at super-Eddington rates and discuss how such accretion flows, shaped by thick disk geometries and anisotropic radiation fields, may provide new insights into black hole growth in the early Universe.

18/06/2025

Speaker: Prof. Piero Madau (UC Santa Cruz)
Link to the streaming: meet.google.com/zev-pdvv-gku

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