Related papers: Finding Direct-Collapse Black Holes at Birth
We discuss currently available observational constraints on the reionization history of the intergalactic medium (IGM), and the extent to which accreting black holes (BHs) can help explain these observations. We show new evidence, based on…
Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are the central engines of luminous quasars and are found in most massive galaxies today. But the recent discoveries of ULAS J1120+0641, a $2 \times 10^9$ M$_{\odot}$ BH at $z =$ 7.1, and ULAS J1342+0928, a…
While the connection between massive stars and supernova explosions is well established observationally, the link between massive stars and black hole formation remains elusive. Some massive stars may collapse directly to black holes…
The first massive astrophysical black holes likely formed at high redshifts (z>10) at the centers of low mass (~10^6 Msun) dark matter concentrations. These black holes grow by mergers and gas accretion, evolve into the population of bright…
The discovery of luminous quasars at redshift z ~ 6 indicates the presence of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) of mass ~10^9 Msun when the Universe was less than one billion years old. This finding presents several challenges for…
There are several puzzling phenomena from recent JWST observations, which seem to push the standard {\Lambda}CDM cosmology over the edge. All those puzzles can be understood in a coherent way if we assume that first massive black holes…
The discovery by JWST of a substantial population of compact "Little Red Dots" (LRDs) presents a major puzzle: their observed spectra defy standard astrophysical interpretations. Here, we show that LRD spectra are naturally reproduced by…
We investigate the growth of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at high redshift ($z \ge 10$) from a combination of dark matter capture, black-hole mergers, and gas accretion. It has previously been shown that SMBHs can form by $z \approx 10$…
It has been suggested that the supermassive black holes, at the centers of galaxies and quasars, may initially form in single collapses of relativistic star clusters or supermassive stars built-up during the evolution of dense star…
Understanding the growth of high redshift massive black holes (MBHs) is a problem of great astrophysical interest. The most luminous quasars at $z>6$ are frequently observed but they represent only the tip of the iceberg as the majority of…
The Direct Collapse scenario to form the supermassive black hole (SMBH) seeds offers the most promising way to explain the origin of quasars at $z>7$. Assuming atomic primordial gas, can Ly$\alpha$ photons escape from the central regions of…
The existence of black holes (BHs) of mass ~ 10^{9} M_sun at z > 6 is a big puzzle in astrophysics because even optimistic estimates of the accretion time are insufficient for stellar mass BHs of ~ 10 M_sun to grow into such supermassive…
Mass estimates, based on scaling relationships, are presented of central black holes in luminous quasars at a range of redshifts (z < 0.5, 1.2 ~< z ~< 6.3). The data show that very massive (about 10^9 solar masses or larger) black holes…
The direct collapse black hole (DCBH) scenario describes the isothermal collapse of a pristine gas cloud directly into a massive, M_BH=10^4-10^6 M_sun black hole. In this paper we show that large HI column densities of primordial gas at…
JWST observations demonstrate that supermassive black holes (SMBHs) exist by redshifts $z \gtrsim 10$, providing further evidence for "direct collapse" black hole (BH) formation, whereby massive ($\sim 10^{3-5} M_{\odot}$) SMBH seeds are…
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}…
The presence of massive black holes (BHs) with masses of order $10^9\rm\, M_\odot$, powering bright quasars when the Universe was less than 1 Gyr old, poses strong constraints on their formation mechanism. Several scenarios have been…
We propose a new mechanism for the formation of seeds of supermassive black holes at early cosmic epochs. Enhanced density fluctuations with amplitudes that are not large enough to form primordial black holes post-inflation can still lead…
The presence of nine candidate galaxies at $z=17$ and $z=25$ discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope in relatively small sky areas, if confirmed, is virtually impossible to reconcile with the predictions of the current galaxy formation…
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…