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We present a spectroscopic investigation with VLT/X-shooter of seven candidate extremely strong damped Lyman-$\alpha$ absorption systems (ESDLAs, $N(\text{HI})\ge 5\times 10^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$) observed along quasar sightlines. We confirm the…
Direct collapse black holes (DCBHs) formed from the collapse of atomically-cooled primordial gas in the early Universe are strong candidates for the seeds of supermassive BHs. DCBHs are thought to form in atomic cooling haloes in the…
The baryons inside high-redshift halos with virial temperatures above T=10^4 K cool radiatively as they condense inside dark matter potential wells. We show that the release of the gravitational binding energy, over the halo assembly…
Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) self-regulate galaxies, groups, and clusters, yet the pathway transporting gas from halo scales to sub-pc radii remains debated. In hot stratified atmospheres, subsonic turbulence can trigger nonlinear…
In massive primordial galaxies, the gas may directly collapse and form a single central massive object if cooling is suppressed. Line cooling by molecular hydrogen can be suppressed in the presence of a strong soft-ultraviolet radiation…
We assess the impact of trapped Lyman alpha cooling radiation on the formation of direct collapse black holes (DCBHs). We apply a one-zone chemical and thermal evolution model, accounting for the photodetachment of H- ions, precursors to…
We present a novel formation channel for supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries in the early Universe, driven by primordial black holes (PBHs). Using high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations, we explore the role of massive PBHs ($m_{BH}…
We calculate, using our recently proposed semiclassical framework, the quantum state of the Hawking pairs that are produced during the evaporation of a black hole (BH). Our framework adheres to the standard rules of quantum mechanics and…
We have performed a cosmological numerical simulation of primordial baryonic gas collapsing onto a $3\times10^7$M$_{\odot}$ dark matter (DM) halo. We show that the large scale baryonic accretion process and the merger of few $\sim10^6$…
We use cosmological adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) code Enzo zoom-in simulations to study the long term evolution of the collapsing gas within dark matter (DM) halos at high redshifts. This direct collapse process is a leading candidate for…
The emission in the hyperfine structure 21 cm line of atomic hydrogen arising in the halos with masses $\sim10^6-10^{10}$ M$_\odot$ from the Dark Ages in the models with Warm Dark Matter (WDM) is analysed. The halos are assumed to be formed…
The nature of the seeds of high-redshift supermassive black holes (SMBHs) is a key question in cosmology. Direct collapse black holes (DCBH) that form in pristine, atomic-line cooling halos, illuminated by a Lyman-Werner (LW) UV flux…
[Abridged] In order to understand which process (e.g. galactic winds, cold accretion) is responsible for the cool (T~10^4 K) halo gas around galaxies, we embarked on a program to study the star-formation properties of galaxies selected by…
Supermassive black holes with up to a $\rm 10^{9}~M_{\odot}$ dwell in the centers of present-day galaxies, and their presence has been confirmed at z $\geq$ 6. Their formation at such early epochs is still an enigma. Different pathways have…
Most galaxies, including the Milky Way, host a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the center. These SMBHs can be observed out to high redshifts (z>=6) if the accretion rate is sufficiently large. However, we do not fully understand the…
We report the first detection of HS2 towards the cold dark cloud TMC-1. This is the first observation of a chemical species containing more than one sulphur atom in this type of sources. The astronomical observations are part of QUIJOTE, a…
We study a model in which supermassive black holes (SMBHs) can grow by the combined action of gas accretion on heavy seeds and mergers of both heavy (m_s^h=10^5 Msol) and light (m_s^l = 10^2 Msol) seeds. The former result from the direct…
We describe a mechanism by which supermassive black holes can form directly in the nuclei of protogalaxies, without the need for seed black holes left over from early star formation. Self-gravitating gas in dark matter halos can lose…
Recent space-based observations discovered several unusual objects, exhibiting similar properties, at redshifts $z\gtrsim 10$. Among them is the UHZ1 system at $z=10.1$, containing $\sim 10^8M_\odot$ in stars, with a similarly massive…
We investigate quasar outflows at $z \geq 6$ by performing zoom-in cosmological hydrodynamical simulations. By employing the SPH code GADGET-3, we zoom in the $2 R_{200}$ region around a $2 \times 10^{12} M_{\odot}$ halo at $z = 6$, inside…