ITC Colloquium

I will discuss the exotic evolution of stars embedded in AGN disks, showing that in sufficiently dense and cold regions rapid accretion can lead to the formation of massive and very massive objects. These stars undergo core-collapse, leave behind compact remnants and contribute to polluting the disk with heavy elements. I will show that AGN stars can have a profound impact on the evolution of AGN metallicities, as well as the production of gravitational waves sources observed by LIGO-Virgo. AGN stars can also lead to the formation of short and Long GRBs, and I will discuss the electromagnetic signature produced by relativistic explosions in AGN disks.