Reconstruction of Cosmic Black Hole Growth and Mass Distribution from Quasar Luminosity Functions at $z>4$: Implications for Faint and Low-mass Populations in JWST

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Main Authors: Li, Wenxiu, Inayoshi, Kohei, Onoue, Masafusa, He, Wanqiu, Matsuoka, Yoshiki, Pan, Zhiwei, Akiyama, Masayuki, Izumi, Takuma, Nagao, Tohru
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Li, Wenxiu
Inayoshi, Kohei
Onoue, Masafusa
He, Wanqiu
Matsuoka, Yoshiki
Pan, Zhiwei
Akiyama, Masayuki
Izumi, Takuma
Nagao, Tohru
author_facet Li, Wenxiu
Inayoshi, Kohei
Onoue, Masafusa
He, Wanqiu
Matsuoka, Yoshiki
Pan, Zhiwei
Akiyama, Masayuki
Izumi, Takuma
Nagao, Tohru
contents The evolution of the quasar luminosity function (QLF) is fundamental to understanding the cosmic evolution of black holes (BHs) through their accretion phases. In the era of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Euclid, and Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, their unprecedented detection sensitivity and wide survey area can unveil the low-luminosity quasar and low-mass BH population, and provide new insights into quasar host galaxies. We present a theoretical model describing BH growth from initial seeding at $z>20$ to $z\sim 4$,incorporating the duration of accretion episodes, the distribution of Eddington ratios, and the mass dependency of BH accretion rates. By constraining the model parameters with the observed QLFs at $4\leq z\leq6$ across a wide UV luminosity range ($-29<M_{\rm 1450}<-24$), we find that the high-redshift BH population grows rapidly at $z\gtrsim6$, and decelerates the pace in subsequent epochs. Toward lower redshifts ($z<6$), mass-dependent accretion inhibits the growth of high-mass BHs with $M_{\bullet}>10^8~M_\odot$, leading to mass saturation at $M_\bullet\gtrsim 10^{10}~M_\odot$. We predict the BH mass function down to $M_{\bullet}\sim 10^6~M_\odot$ for both unobscured and obscured quasar populations at $4\leq z \leq 11$, offering a benchmark for future observational tests. Our model accounts for the presence of both bright and faint quasars at $z>4$, including those discovered by JWST. Furthermore, our findings suggest two distinct pathways for the early assembly of the BH-galaxy mass correlation: the population with a BH-to-stellar mass ratio near the local value of $M_\bullet/M_{\star}\simeq5\times10^{-3}$ maintains a proximity to the relation through its evolution via moderate growth, while the population that begins to grow above the local relation accretes mass rapidly and becomes as overmassive as $M_\bullet/M_\star \sim 0.01-0.1$ by $z\sim 6$.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2306_06172
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Reconstruction of Cosmic Black Hole Growth and Mass Distribution from Quasar Luminosity Functions at $z>4$: Implications for Faint and Low-mass Populations in JWST
Li, Wenxiu
Inayoshi, Kohei
Onoue, Masafusa
He, Wanqiu
Matsuoka, Yoshiki
Pan, Zhiwei
Akiyama, Masayuki
Izumi, Takuma
Nagao, Tohru
Astrophysics of Galaxies
The evolution of the quasar luminosity function (QLF) is fundamental to understanding the cosmic evolution of black holes (BHs) through their accretion phases. In the era of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Euclid, and Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, their unprecedented detection sensitivity and wide survey area can unveil the low-luminosity quasar and low-mass BH population, and provide new insights into quasar host galaxies. We present a theoretical model describing BH growth from initial seeding at $z>20$ to $z\sim 4$,incorporating the duration of accretion episodes, the distribution of Eddington ratios, and the mass dependency of BH accretion rates. By constraining the model parameters with the observed QLFs at $4\leq z\leq6$ across a wide UV luminosity range ($-29<M_{\rm 1450}<-24$), we find that the high-redshift BH population grows rapidly at $z\gtrsim6$, and decelerates the pace in subsequent epochs. Toward lower redshifts ($z<6$), mass-dependent accretion inhibits the growth of high-mass BHs with $M_{\bullet}>10^8~M_\odot$, leading to mass saturation at $M_\bullet\gtrsim 10^{10}~M_\odot$. We predict the BH mass function down to $M_{\bullet}\sim 10^6~M_\odot$ for both unobscured and obscured quasar populations at $4\leq z \leq 11$, offering a benchmark for future observational tests. Our model accounts for the presence of both bright and faint quasars at $z>4$, including those discovered by JWST. Furthermore, our findings suggest two distinct pathways for the early assembly of the BH-galaxy mass correlation: the population with a BH-to-stellar mass ratio near the local value of $M_\bullet/M_{\star}\simeq5\times10^{-3}$ maintains a proximity to the relation through its evolution via moderate growth, while the population that begins to grow above the local relation accretes mass rapidly and becomes as overmassive as $M_\bullet/M_\star \sim 0.01-0.1$ by $z\sim 6$.
title Reconstruction of Cosmic Black Hole Growth and Mass Distribution from Quasar Luminosity Functions at $z>4$: Implications for Faint and Low-mass Populations in JWST
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.06172