Eleonora Sani

The starburst-AGN connection in local and distant galaxies is relevant for understanding galaxy formation and evolution, the star formation and metal enrichment history of the universe, the origin of the extragalactic background at low and high energies, and the origin of nuclear activity in galaxies. In particular, using ground based and space observatories, I investigate the AGN and Star Formtaion spectral signatures disentangling their contributions to the observed spectrum of the source. The analysis has been applied to composite sources, such as ULIRGs (Ultraluminous InfraRed Galaxies, whose primary energy source is still debated) and NLS1 (Narrow Line Seyfert 1, where the extreme feeding process of the central Black Hole appears related to an enhanced nuclear star formation activity). Once carefully calibrated in the local Universe our diagnostic applies also to high redshift galaxies.

The empiric correlation between the mass of black holes at the centers of nearby galaxies and the mass of their spheroids suggests a direct link between the formation of spheroids and the growth of central supermassive black holes (SMBH). In this contest, I'm interested in detremining the Infrared spheroid (bulge) structural parameters obtained by a two-dimensional image in galaxies with well known BH masses. The aim is to investigate the possibly direct bulge - BH masses relation for both active and non-active galaxies.