We are pleased to announce that we will be hosting a Kavli Science Focus Meeting, “‘Le rouge et le noir’: Linking early black holes and stellar evolution with “Little Red Dots”” on Wednesday 20th May 2026, from 9:30 to 5:30 in the Martin Ryle Seminar Room at KICC. We will have four invited speakers including Prof. Andrea Ferrara (Pisa), Dr. Fabio Pacucci (CfA), Dr. Bingjie Wang (Princeton), and Albert Sneppen (Dawn).
This meeting will bring together researchers across Cambridge (and beyond) who work or are interested in the formation and evolution of black holes and/or peculiar stellar-like objects, and how they might be connected to the recent studies of “Little Red Dots” (LRDs) across cosmic time.
We aim to start new collaborations, to connect theory and observations, and to link research on low- and high-redshift systems. Everyone is encouraged to discuss future (~3-5 year) observations or simulations that are necessary to advance the field. The topics of the workshop will include (but not limited to) the following
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Observations of LRDs across cosmic time
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LRDs as BHs – seeding, growth, and measurements of BH parameters
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LRDs as stellar-like objects – gaseous structures
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LRDs in the context of AGN/galaxy demographics
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Evolution of LRDs, or the lack thereof
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Host galaxies and environments of LRDs
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Directions for future observations and models
Find below the programme
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Time Slot Title |
Speaker / Facilitator |
Notes |
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Zoom details: Meeting ID / Password: 815 7865 2141 / 135529 --- Link here |
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09:15 |
Arrival |
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Informal gathering. |
|
09:30 |
Welcome & Workshop Goals |
Xihan Ji |
10 minutes |
|
09:40 |
The Origin of Redness in Little Red Dots: Observational and Model Constraints |
Bingjie Wang (invited) |
25+5 minutes |
|
10:10 |
Exploring the similarities and differences between Little Red Dots and Little Blue Dots |
Sophia Geris |
15+5 minutes |
|
10:30 |
The unresolved structure in Little Red Dots: new insights. |
Francesco D'Eugenio |
15+5 minutes |
|
10:50 |
Coffee Break |
|
30 minutes |
|
11:30 |
Are LRDs direct collapse black holes? |
Andrea Ferrara (invited) |
25+5 minutes |
|
12:00 |
Super-Eddington growth hindering X-ray detection in high-z broad line AGNs |
Alessandro Trinca |
15+5 minutes |
|
12:20 |
The inevitable formation of extremely massive stars with stellar black hole cores in dense star clusters |
Antti Rantala |
15+5 minutes |
|
12:40 |
New colors for black holes in the early Universe: spectroscopic insights from Little Red Dots |
Roberta Tripodi |
15+5 minutes |
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13:00 |
Lunch Break |
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60 minutes |
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14:00 |
Little red dots viewed with self-consistent radiative transfer |
Albert Sneppen (invited) |
25+5 minutes |
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14:30 |
Broad line profile in LRDs and LBDs |
Jan Scholtz |
15+5 minutes |
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14:50 |
JWST census of Balmer line absorption features in broad line AGN |
Ignas Juodžbalis |
15+5 minutes |
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15:10 |
Weak [OIII] emitting AGNs at z>5 |
Anishya Harshan |
15+5 minutes |
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15:30 |
Coffee Break |
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30 minutes |
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16:00 |
The Cliff - Low metallicity in a Little Red Dot |
Lucy Ivey |
15+5 minutes |
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16:20 |
Shedding light on a dormant and extreme little red dot at z = 8.50 |
Gareth Jones |
15+5 minutes |
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16:40 |
Holes in the BH*? Insights from the FUV spectrum of an LRD at z = 7.04 |
Xihan Ji |
15+5 minutes |
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17:00 |
Wrap-up & Discussion |
Xihan/Francesco |
30 minutes |
We look forward to seeing many of you there!
Best wishes,
Xihan & Francesco, on behalf of the SOC
