Relationships Between Active Galactic Nuclei And Starburst Galaxies

How massive are the largest and smallest nuclear black holes in galaxies? Why are the masses of nuclear black holes proportional to those of their host galaxy bulges? How is nuclear activity triggered? What are the observational signatures of such processes? What are the connections between the active nucleus, stars and interstellar medium in galaxies? Answers to these questions are addressed in this book, which presents a compilation of 191 works covering recent observations from X-rays to radio wavelengths, as well as theoretical modeling of accretion disks, stellar populations and galaxy and black hole evolution. This volume presents the nuclear activity as a phase in the life of a galaxy, which is intimately connected to the evolution of its stars and interstellar medium. It brings together recent developments in topics covering most aspects of galaxy evolution, and is a valuable resource for astronomers and graduate students working in extragalactic astronomy.

A group of leading experts in the field of starbursts and active galactic nuclei have joined hands to produce this review volume which covers the starburst-AGN connection, and the tests to be carried out with the upcoming new astronomical facilities to ascertain the relevance of both components to the formation and evolution of galaxies.The book is addressed to advanced graduate students and researchers in the fields of active galactic nuclei and young galaxies.

Starburst and AGN, which are among the most active extragalactic phenomena, have been studied independently for many years. Recent observations reveal that many galaxies exhibit both AGN and starburst features, which naturally invites an investigation of their physical connection. Considerable new multi-wavelength observations during the last decade together with the results of many theoretical studies are enabling the physics and connectedness of these two phenomena to be understood more deeply. These proceedings are of a conference held at Shanghai Normal University, on a very pleasant campus southwest of the city. More than 120 participants from over 20 different countries were in attendance. The goals of the conference were to review past progress, present new results, plan future work, and establish observational and theoretical collaborations. We were treated to the first in-depth presentation of Spitzer Space Telescope mid- IR spectroscopy and imaging/photometry as well as new detailed theoretical modeling of the relationship and interaction between starbursts and AGN. Also presented were major new studies of the local universe from SDSS and other ground-based radio, IR/optical, and space-based x-ray observatories. The importance of the intense starburst and AGN activity in the early universe only 1 billion years after the Big Bang is becoming evident from the very early formation of extremely massive galaxies and black holes. The coming together and cross-fertilization of these studies at the conference was most productive.

How gas flows and starbursts light up active galaxies.

What evidence is there for and against unified schemes for active galactic nuclei (AGN)? How do the AGN populations evolve over cosmological timescales? And what can the variability of their UV and X-ray emission tell us? These are just some of the exciting issues addressed in this volume of papers collected from the 33rd Herstmonceux conference in Cambridge. AGN are among the most spectacular objects known to astronomy. Yet, despite years of intense and wide-ranging research, the debate continues - what is their fundamental source of power? Rapid progress has been made towards answering this question by a variety of large-scale, multi-wavelength monitoring campaigns and the latest generation of satellite-borne observations. This volume provides a valuable overview and timely update of the exciting and rapidly developing field of AGN research - essential reading for graduate students and researchers.

"Based on the 1984 Santa Cruz Astrophysics Workshop"--Verso t.p.