Related papers: Supermassive Black Hole Accretion and Growth
Supernova theory suggests that black holes of a stellar origin cannot attain masses in the range of 50-135 solar masses in isolation. We argue here that this mass gap is filled in by black holes that grow by gas accretion in dense stellar…
In this third paper of a series, we study the growth and luminosity of black holes (BHs) in motion with respect to their surrounding medium. We run a large set of two-dimensional (2D) axis-symmetric simulations to explore a large parameter…
The growth of a supermassive black hole (BH) is determined by how much gas the host galaxy is able to feed it, which in turn is controlled by the cosmic environment, through galaxy mergers and accretion of cosmic flows that time how…
Models aiming to explain the formation of massive black hole seeds, and in particular the direct collapse scenario, face substantial difficulties. These are rooted in rather ad hoc and fine-tuned initial conditions, such as the simultaneous…
We study the formation of black holes from subhorizon and superhorizon perturbations in a matter dominated universe with 3+1D numerical relativity simulations. We find that there are two primary mechanisms of formation depending on the…
We investigate the black hole mass function at $z\sim5$ using XQz5, our recent sample of the most luminous quasars between the redshifts $4.5 < z < 5.3$. We include 72 quasars with black hole masses estimated from velocity-broadened…
I present a new method to unveil the history of cosmic accretion and the build-up of Supermassive Black Holes (SMBH) in the nuclei of galaxies, based on observations of the evolving radio and (hard) X-ray luminosity functions of AGN. The…
The existence of intermediate-mass ($\sim 10^3 M_\odot$) black holes in the center of globular clusters has been suggested by different observations. The X-ray sources observed in NGC 6388 and in G1 in M31 could be interpreted as being…
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…
We compare all the available observational data on the redshift evolution of the total stellar mass and star formation rate density in the Universe with the mass and accretion rate density evolution of supermassive black holes, estimated…
We consider the problem of growing the largest supermassive black holes from stellar--mass seeds at high redshift. Rapid growth without violating the Eddington limit requires that most mass is gained while the hole has a low spin and thus a…
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 $z \approx 10$…
Early JWST observations are providing growing evidence for a ubiquitous population of accreting supermassive black holes (BHs) at high redshift, many of which appear overmassive compared to the empirically-derived local scaling relation…
Recently, observational hints for supermassive black holes have been accumulating, which has inspired ones to wonder: Can primordial black holes (PBHs) be supermassive, in particular with the mass $M\gtrsim 10^{9}M_\odot$? A supercritical…
(abridged) The observed properties of supermassive black holes suggest a fundamental link between their assembly and the formation of their host spheroids. We model the growth and activity of black holes in galaxies using LambdaCDM…
Supermassive black holes are nowadays believed to reside in most local galaxies. Accretion of gas and black hole mergers play a fundamental role in determining the two parameters defining a black hole: mass and spin. I briefly review here…
To explain the observed population of supermassive black holes at z~7, very massive seed black holes or, alternatively, super-Eddington scenarios are needed to reach final masses of the order of 10^9 solar masses. A popular explanation for…
The most massive black holes at redshifts z = 6 were already over billion solar masses. In this chapter, we discuss the formation and growth of the first black holes in the Universe. The deaths of massive primordial stars provide potential…
Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) have not been experimentally detected so far, but their existence would provide important insights about the early Universe and serve as one of the possible candidates of dark matter (DM). In this work, we…
Recent observations of quasars powered by supermassive black holes (SMBHs) out to z > 7 constrain both the initial seed masses and the growth of the most massive black holes (BHs) in the early universe. Here we elucidate the implications of…