Supermassive Black Holes

TL;DR

Supermassive black holes, once seen as destructive, are now understood to play a crucial role in cosmic structure formation and may be observable at the event horizon soon.

Contribution

The paper reviews recent paradigm shifts and evidence supporting the importance of supermassive black holes in early universe development and their potential for direct imaging.

Findings

Supermassive black holes may have driven early universe structure formation.

They could account for up to half of post-Big Bang radiation.

The Milky Way's central black hole is a prime candidate for event horizon imaging.

Abstract

Supermassive black holes have generally been recognized as the most destructive force in nature. But in recent years, they have undergone a dramatic shift in paradigm. These objects may have been critical to the formation of structure in the early universe, spawning bursts of star formation and nucleating proto-galactic condensations. Possibly half of all the radiation produced after the Big Bang may be attributed to them, whose number is now known to exceed 300 million. The most accessible among them is situated at the Center of Our Galaxy. In the following pages, we will examine the evidence that has brought us to this point, and we will understand why many expect to actually image the event horizon of the Galaxy's central black hole within this decade.