Mapping quasars: micro-imaging experiments

Abstract

The spectra of quasars are very similar, despite a wide range of black hole masses, accretion rates, local environments and evolutionary states. Thus the key elements of quasar emission physics must be similar in all objects and scale in a straightforward way. This project aims to develop new observational programs to elucidate fundamental aspects of quasar physics and concurrently build numerical models to be tested against those observations. In particular, gravitational microlensing will be used to resolve emission regions on micro-arcsecond scales. This project aims to resolve long-standing questions about the nature of quasars, one of the extreme objects in our universe.