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The Event Horizon Telescope has produced resolved images of the supermassive black holes Sgr A* and M87*, which present the largest shadows on the sky. In the next decade, technological improvements and extensions to the array will enable…
Future gamma-ray experiments, such as the e-ASTROGAM and AMEGO telescopes, can detect the Hawking radiation of photons from primordial black holes (PBHs) if they make up a fraction or all of dark matter. PBHs can analogously also Hawking…
A galaxy halo may contain a large number of intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) with masses in the range of 10^{2-6} solar mass. We propose to directly detect these IMBHs by observing multiply imaged QSO-galaxy or galaxy-galaxy strong…
We present a detailed study of higher-order photon rings of an accreting Kerr naked singularity (KNS) with dimensionless spin parameter $a=1.01$; i.e., a horizonless, overly spinning compact object. Motivated by horizon-scale…
When surrounded by a transparent emission region, black holes are expected to reveal a dark shadow caused by gravitational light bending and photon capture at the event horizon. To image and study this phenomenon, we have assembled the…
Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are ubiquitously found at the centers of most galaxies. Measuring SMBH mass is important for understanding the origin and evolution of SMBHs. However, traditional methods require spectral data which is…
The high sensitivity of upcoming space-based gravitational wave detectors suggests the possibility that if halo dark matter were composed of primordial black holes (PBHs) with mass between $10^{16}$ g and 10$^{20}$ g, the gravitational…
Supermassive black hole (SMBH) binary systems are unavoidable outcomes of galaxy mergers. Their dynamics encode information about their formation and growth, the composition of their host galactic nuclei, the evolution of galaxies, and the…
By linking widely separated radio dishes, the technique of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) can greatly enhance angular resolution in radio astronomy. However, at any given moment, a VLBI array only sparsely samples the information…
Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) are a natural outcome of galaxy mergers and should form frequently in galactic nuclei. Sub-parsec binaries can be identified from their bright electromagnetic emission, e.g., Active Galactic Nuclei…
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration recently published the first images of the supermassive black holes in the cores of the Messier 87 and Milky Way galaxies. These observations have provided a new means to study supermassive…
Radial velocity monitoring has revealed the presence of moving broad emission lines in some quasars, potentially indicating the presence of a sub-parsec binary system. Phase-referenced, near-infrared interferometric observations could map…
The EHT has captured a series of images of black holes. These images could provide valuable information about the gravitational environment near the event horizon. However, accurate detection and parameter estimation for candidate black…
The silhouette cast by the horizon of the supermassive black hole in M87 can now be resolved with the emerging millimeter very-long baseline interferometry (VLBI) capability. Despite being ~2000 times farther away than SgrA* (the…
In this study, we examine the phenomenon of photon axion conversion occurring in the spacetime surrounding a black hole. Specifically, we focus on the potential existence of a magnetic field around the supermassive black hole M87*, which…
Imaging the vicinity of black hole is one of the ultimate goals of VLBI astronomy. The closest massive black hole, SgrA*, located at Galactic center is the leading candidate for such observations. Combined with recent VLBI recording…
Spin measurements of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) provide crucial constraints on the accretion processes that power active galactic nuclei (AGN), fuel outflows, and trigger black hole growth. However, spin measurements are mainly…
In this proceedings, we review the importance and complexity of detecting and characterizing supermassive binary black holes using conventional techniques (spectroscopy, timing, imaging). We show how spectropolarimetric data can strengthen…
Gravitational waves are a prediction of general relativity, and with ground-based detectors now running in their advanced configuration, we will soon be able to measure them directly for the first time. Binaries of stellar-mass black holes…
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) will soon provide the first high-resolution images of the Galactic Centre supermassive black hole (SMBH) candidate Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), enabling us to probe gravity in the strong-field regime. Besides…