Guest Lecture by Prof. Dr. Luciano Rezzolla

Prof. Dr. Luciano Rezzolla,

Institute for Theoretical Physics (ITP) of the Goethe University of Frankfurt

The First Image of a Black Hole

Wednesday, November 20, 5 p.m.

Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics

Grüneburg 14, 60322 Frankfurt am Main

Researchers from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), one of whom is Goethe University’s renowned astrophysicist Luciano Rezzolla, have successfully captured the first direct visual  evidence of a supermassive black hole. Mesmerized by both the aesthetic and scientific dimension of this image we are happy to announce a special guest lecture by Luciano Rezzolla on November 20, 5 p. m. at our institute.

Dr. Luciano Rezzolla will discuss how the first image of a black hole was obtained by the EHT collaboration. In particular, he will describe the theoretical aspects that have allowed scientists to model the dynamics of the plasma accreting onto the black hole and how such dynamics was used to generate synthetic black-hole images.

He will also illustrate how the comparison between the theoretical images and the observations has allowed us to deduce the presence of a black hole in M87 and to extract information about its properties. His talk will also describe the lessons we have learned about strong-field gravity and alternatives to black holes.

Prof. Dr. Luciano Rezzolla is presently the Chair of Theoretical (Relativistic) Astrophysics and Director at the Institute for Theoretical Physics (ITP) of the Goethe University of Frankfurt, Germany. For his outstanding contributions in the field of astrophysics, Luciano Rezzolla has recently been appointed Andrews Professor of Astronomy at Trinity College in Dublin.

The lecture will be held in English language. There is no registration required.

For any questions please write to presse@ae.mpg.de.

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