Research Interests


Computational and theoretical astrophysics:   Formation, dynamics, and growth of supermassive black holes;
Gravitational waves;   Multi-messenger astrophysics;   Galaxy formation and evolution;   Astrochemistry;
Feedback from supernovae and active galactic nuclei;   Gravitational lensing.

I am interested in the formation, dynamics, and activity of supermassive black holes, with particular attention to the role of galactic dynamics, chemical evolution, and gas cooling in their host systems, within the larger field of galaxy formation and evolution.

My work is predominantly numerical, with an emphasis on multi-messenger astrophysics, connecting theory to electromagnetic observations and future gravitational-wave detections.

In the past few years, I have led the effort to improve our understanding of the black hole-galaxy coevolution scenario, using both idealised and cosmological zoom-in simulations of many astrophysical systems, ranging from galactic encounters of disc galaxies to circumnuclear discs, from high-redshift galaxies in isolation to mergers of dwarf galaxies, to the cosmological build-up of Milky Way-sized haloes.

The low-resolution movie below shows the evolution of a merger between two galaxies with initial mass ratio 0.25. The flickering is proportional to the accretion of gas onto the central black holes.





Before working with simulations, my work was mostly analytical. The goal of my Ph.D. thesis work was to study the gas and dark matter content of large spheroidal systems from a theoretical point of view and to narrow the discrepancy between existing theoretical models and observed phenomenology in these massive structures. The results include observationally calibrated theoretical prescriptions for early-type galaxies, groups and clusters of galaxies.

For more information, please refer to my publications.







































Copyright © Pedro R. Capelo. All Rights Reserved. design by dcarter