Research Scientist
About
Radio emission from AGNs
Margo Aller is studying relativistic jet outflows from gas accretion onto massive black holes in active galactic nuclei. This research uses a combination of observations from the U-M 26-meter radio telescope (UMRAO), MOJAVE (a major VLBA program dedicated to characterizing the kinematics of these sources), complementary broadband data obtained as part of a global collaboration, and theoretical modeling.
Dr. Aller is particularly interested in the geometry of magnetic fields within jets, their particle composition, and jet-central engine connections. Dr. Aller’s work helped identify shocks as the probable origin of radio band variability, and she was part of a team that obtained the first observational evidence for the presence of an acceleration and collimation zone within the jet, confirming the predictions of jet-launching models.
Recent Results
Recently Dr. Aller began a collaboration with the 40-m Owens Valley monitoring team (OVRO) to study the phenomenology apparent in multi-decade, centimeter-band light curves using combined UMRAO-OVRO monitoring data. An important result from this work is the discovery of a persistent sinusoidal variation in the 45.1-year light curve of the blazar PKS 2131-021 consistent with a supermassive binary black hole system with an orbital separation of ~0.001-0.01 pc and a period of 2.08 years in the rest frame of the source. See recent press release on this result!
Background
BA, Vassar College; PhD, University of Michigan.
Additional Interests
She is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the MDPI on-line journal Galaxies, and currently lead editor on a special issue entitled Polarimetry as a Probe of Magnetic Fields in AGN Jets.
Publications
For publications by this author, use this ADS search.
ORCID ID: 0000-0003-2483-2103
