Finding Direct-collapse Black Holes at Birth

• Direct-collapse black holes (DCBHs) are currently one of the leading contenders for the origins of the first quasars in the universe, over 300 of which have now been found at z > 6. But the birth of a DCBH in an atomically cooling halo does not by itself guarantee it will become a quasar by z similar to 7, the halo must also be located in cold accretion flows or later merge with a series of other gas-rich halos capable of fueling the BH's rapid growth. Here, we present near-infrared luminosities for DCBHs born in cold accretion flows in which they are destined to grow to 10(9) M-circle dot by z similar to 7. Our observables, which are derived from cosmological simulations with radiation hydrodynamics with Enzo, reveal that DCBHs could be found by the James Webb Space Telescope at z less than or similar to 20 and strongly lensed DCBHs might be found in future wide-field surveys by Euclid and the Wide-Field Infrared Space Telescope at z less than or similar to 15.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Intermediate-mass black holes

Supermassive black holes

Quasars

Population III stars

Primordial galaxies

High-redshift galaxies

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)