The Formation of Supermassive Black Holes and Galaxies at Cosmic Dawn

Monday 11 May 2026, 14:00 → 16:00 Asia/Shanghai

6620 (ITP South Building)

Speaker: Luis C. Ho/何子山

Abstract: Supermassive black holes are ubiquitous in the nearby Universe. Their lifecycle appears to be closely connected to the evolution of galaxies. How and when did these mysterious objects form? What was the first generation of black hole seeds? How did they grow quickly enough to power the most distant quasars? And how do black holes co-evolve with galaxies? I will summarize the demographics of central black holes in the local Universe and recent discoveries made with the James Webb Space Telescope that offer surprising, new insights into the earliest phases of black hole and galaxy formation during the first billion years of cosmic history. I will outline what we know and the much else that still remains uncertain.

Biography: 何子山（Luis C. Ho），美国艺术与科学院院士、美国天文学会会士。1990年获哈佛大学学士学位，1995年获加州大学伯克利分校博士学位，1998年以终身天文学家身份加入美国卡内基天文台。2014年起在华任职，担任北京大学科维理天文与天体物理研究所所长、讲席教授，同时兼任《Astrophysical Journal Letters》副主编。何子山教授是天文观测领域权威专家，长期依托国际先进地面与空间多波段望远镜，围绕黑洞与星系演化开展系统性研究，取得多项开创性成果。其主要研究方向涵盖黑洞吸积物理过程、星系结构、动力学与恒星形成性质，以及观测技术和数据分析方法的发展。迄今已发表学术论文860余篇，被引逾8.7万次，H因子高达130。