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It is now well-established
that black holes are an important
feature of our cosmic environment. Stellar-mass black holes number in
the millions in every galaxy; there is now conclusive evidence that
black holes as massive as a billion suns reside at the centers of most
galaxies. Black holes are thought to power the most energetic
phenomena in the Universe from quasars to, perhaps even Gamma-Ray-Bursts.
My research interests focus on studies of black holes encompassing
a wide range of topics in both High Energy Astrophysics and Cosmology.
They include theoretical studies of the interplay between black hole
growth and galaxy formation and investigations of various aspects of
the physics of accretion disks around black holes.
Cosmological simulations of black hole formation: I am currently
involved in developing a new prescription in the context of hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation which, together with
star formation and supernovae feedback, follows black hole accretion
and its associated feedback in the center of galaxies. This is a novel
attempt within models of galaxy formation to track self-consistently
the growth of supermassive black holes and the evolution of the galaxy
itself. Galaxy formation and black hole growth are mutually
intertwined processes, requiring joint theoretical modeling to be
meaningfully addressed.
21cm tomography and foregrounds: An exciting future probe of the epoch
of reionization will be 21cm tomography of the neutral hydrogen in the
Intergalactic medium and in gravitationally collapsed systems. I have
been modeling the contaminating foreground radiation to the primary
21 cm radiation due to galaxies which produce radio emission and
free-free emission and extended sources include radio halos and
relics. We are using cosmological simulations and are producing
simulated sky maps for the upcoming Lofar and PAST facilities.
Neutrino transport around black holes and Gamma-Ray Bursts:
In recent years the exciting field of Gamma-Ray Bursts has opened up to the
studies of black hole accretion. Rapid, hyper-Eddington accretion is
likely to power the central engines of Gamma-Ray Bursts. In these
extreme conditions of densities and temperatures the accreting material
is cooled by neutrino emission rather than by radiation. I have been
working on deriving dynamical solutions for neutrino dominated
accretion flows.
Accretion models and X-rays: Accretion of matter onto a black hole is
able to liberate large amounts of its binding energy. By studying the
power output from accretion disks, we are able to probe the deep
gravitational potentials around black holes. Nearby black holes
however, are much less luminous than active galactic nuclei in distant
galaxies. I build models for the emission from nearby black holes
using Chandra Satellite and XMM-Newton observations.
Selected Publications
Energy input from quasars regulates the
growth and activity
of black holes and their host galaxies,
Di Matteo T., Springel V., Hernquist L., (2005), Nature, Feb.10 issue
The 21 centimeter emission from the reionization epoch:
extended and point source foregrounds,
Di Matteo T., Ciardi B., Miniati F., (2004), MNRAS, 355, 1053-1065
Tracing the cosmological assembly of stars and supermassive
black holes in galaxies,
Merloni A., Rudnick G., Di Matteo T., (2004), MNRAS, 354, L37-L42
Evolution of a neutrino-cooled disc in Gamma-Ray Bursts,
Janiuk A., Perna R., Di Matteo T., Czerny B., (2004), MNRAS, 355, 950-958
Black hole growth and activity in a LambdaCDM Universe,
Di Matteo T., Croft R.A.C, Springel V., Hernquist
L.E., (2003), Astrophys. J., 593, 56-68
Accretion onto the Supermassive Black Hole in M87,
Di Matteo T., Allen, S.W., Fabian A.C., Wilson
A. S., Young A.J., (2003), Astrophys. J., 582, 133-140
Neutrino Trapping and Accretion Models for Gamma-Ray Bursts
Di Matteo T., Perna R., Narayan R.,
Astrophys. J., (2002), 579, 706-715
MNRAS = Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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