Studies of galaxies and AGN are being revolutionised by impressive new sky surveys, such as SLOAN and 2DF, which have already significantly increased the number of known galaxies and quasars in the Universe. In the next decade and beyond, prospects for understanding AGN and their role in galaxy formation and evolution are extremely promising given the number of planned new instruments spanning the electromagnetic spectrum.
We do not yet know
whether galaxies grow
black holes or are seeded by them; NGST (Next Generation Space
Telescope) will find the smallest black holes at the earliest times
and allow us to relate them to the first galaxies and stars.
The amount of cold
gas in galaxies through cosmic history is
a key ingredient in star-formation, quasar activity and galaxy
evolution models but is still unknown. The study of gas at high
redshifts with ALMA, the GMRT and the EVLA will revolutionise our
understanding its role in these important phenomena and provide
powerful constraints for cosmological models.
Current models of AGN
physics - fuelling, accretion discs and
the acceleration of powerful radio jets - remain speculative; detailed
studies of X-ray emitting gas, e.g with the highly ambitious X-ray
space interferometer MAXIM, might offer valuable new insight into the
energetics and physical structure of this extreme region.
Finally, the
detection and detailed study of gravitational
waves, using the space-based detector LISA, from massive black holes
living in black-hole binary systems or in the very act of merging will
prove the existence of SMBHs and perhaps provide insight into the
origin of the difference between radio-loud and radio-quiet AGN.