Malachi successfully defended his PhD Proposal on August 26, 2011.

TITLE:
Modeling of Outflows in Active Galactic Nuclei using X-Ray Data

ABSTRACT:
X-ray spectra of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) show absorption and emission features that are thought to arise from highly-ionized, fast accretion disk winds. These outflows carry a significant fraction of the accretion energy and connect the supermassive black holes of AGN to their host galaxies. However, the physical mechanism driving them, the conditions in the gas, and the radial location of the outflow have yet to be understood. In the research that will comprise my thesis, I propose using an existing Compton-thick wind model and archived X-ray observational data to study and better understand the wind components of AGN. The sample of AGN used in this study are selected because of their bright X-ray uxes and long exposure times on the current X-ray telescopes (Chandra, XMM-Newton, and Suzaku). Our goal is to test the model to determine if it constrains the wind parameters. This test may offer insight into how dominant the disk wind model is in the X-ray band.