_version_ 1866917570382135296
author Nabizadeh, Armin
Zackrisson, Erik
Pacucci, Fabio
Maksym, Peter W.
Li, Weihui
Civano, Francesca
Cohen, Seth H.
D'Silva, Jordan C. J.
Koekemoer, Anton M.
Summers, Jake
Windhorst, Rogier A.
Adams, Nathan
Conselice, Christopher J.
Coe, Dan
Driver, Simon P.
Frye, Brenda
Grogin, Norman A.
Jansen, Rolf A.
Marshall, Madeline A.
Nonino, Mario
Pirzkal, Nor
Robotham, Aaron
Rutkowski, Michael J.
Ryan, Jr., Russell E.
Tompkins, Scott
Willmer, Christopher N. A.
Yan, Haojing
Diego, Jose M.
Cheng, Cheng
Finkelstein, Steven L.
Willner, S. P.
Zitrin, Adi
Bhatawdekar, Rachana
Gim, Hansung B.
author_facet Nabizadeh, Armin
Zackrisson, Erik
Pacucci, Fabio
Maksym, Peter W.
Li, Weihui
Civano, Francesca
Cohen, Seth H.
D'Silva, Jordan C. J.
Koekemoer, Anton M.
Summers, Jake
Windhorst, Rogier A.
Adams, Nathan
Conselice, Christopher J.
Coe, Dan
Driver, Simon P.
Frye, Brenda
Grogin, Norman A.
Jansen, Rolf A.
Marshall, Madeline A.
Nonino, Mario
Pirzkal, Nor
Robotham, Aaron
Rutkowski, Michael J.
Ryan, Jr., Russell E.
Tompkins, Scott
Willmer, Christopher N. A.
Yan, Haojing
Diego, Jose M.
Cheng, Cheng
Finkelstein, Steven L.
Willner, S. P.
Zitrin, Adi
Bhatawdekar, Rachana
Gim, Hansung B.
contents Direct-collapse black holes (DCBHs) of mass $\sim 10^4$-$10^5 {M}_\odot$ that form in HI-cooling halos in the early Universe are promising progenitors of the $\gtrsim 10^9 {M}_\odot$ supermassive black holes that fuel observed $z \gtrsim 7$ quasars. Efficient accretion of the surrounding gas onto such DCBH seeds may render them sufficiently bright for detection with the JWST up to $z\approx 20$. Additionally, the very steep and red spectral slope predicted across the $\approx 1$-5 $μ$m wavelength range of the JWST/NIRSpec instrument during their initial growth phase should make them photometrically identifiable up to very high redshifts. In this work, we present a search for such DCBH candidates across the 34 arcmin$^{2}$ in the first two spokes of the JWST cycle-1 PEARLS survey of the north ecliptic pole time-domain field covering eight NIRCam filters down to a maximum depth of $\sim$ 29 AB mag. We identify two objects with spectral energy distributions consistent with the Pacucci et al. (2016) DCBH models. However, we also note that even with data in eight NIRCam filters, objects of this type remain degenerate with dusty galaxies and obscured active galactic nuclei over a wide range of redshifts. Follow-up spectroscopy would be required to pin down the nature of these objects. Based on our sample of DCBH candidates and assumptions on the typical duration of the DCBH steep-slope state, we set a conservative upper limit of $\lesssim 5\times 10^{-4}$ comoving Mpc$^{-3}$ (cMpc$^{-3}$) on the comoving density of host halos capable of hosting DCBHs with spectral energy distributions similar to the Pacucci et al. (2016) models at $z\approx 6$-14.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2308_07260
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A search for high-redshift direct-collapse black hole candidates in the PEARLS north ecliptic pole field
Nabizadeh, Armin
Zackrisson, Erik
Pacucci, Fabio
Maksym, Peter W.
Li, Weihui
Civano, Francesca
Cohen, Seth H.
D'Silva, Jordan C. J.
Koekemoer, Anton M.
Summers, Jake
Windhorst, Rogier A.
Adams, Nathan
Conselice, Christopher J.
Coe, Dan
Driver, Simon P.
Frye, Brenda
Grogin, Norman A.
Jansen, Rolf A.
Marshall, Madeline A.
Nonino, Mario
Pirzkal, Nor
Robotham, Aaron
Rutkowski, Michael J.
Ryan, Jr., Russell E.
Tompkins, Scott
Willmer, Christopher N. A.
Yan, Haojing
Diego, Jose M.
Cheng, Cheng
Finkelstein, Steven L.
Willner, S. P.
Zitrin, Adi
Bhatawdekar, Rachana
Gim, Hansung B.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Direct-collapse black holes (DCBHs) of mass $\sim 10^4$-$10^5 {M}_\odot$ that form in HI-cooling halos in the early Universe are promising progenitors of the $\gtrsim 10^9 {M}_\odot$ supermassive black holes that fuel observed $z \gtrsim 7$ quasars. Efficient accretion of the surrounding gas onto such DCBH seeds may render them sufficiently bright for detection with the JWST up to $z\approx 20$. Additionally, the very steep and red spectral slope predicted across the $\approx 1$-5 $μ$m wavelength range of the JWST/NIRSpec instrument during their initial growth phase should make them photometrically identifiable up to very high redshifts. In this work, we present a search for such DCBH candidates across the 34 arcmin$^{2}$ in the first two spokes of the JWST cycle-1 PEARLS survey of the north ecliptic pole time-domain field covering eight NIRCam filters down to a maximum depth of $\sim$ 29 AB mag. We identify two objects with spectral energy distributions consistent with the Pacucci et al. (2016) DCBH models. However, we also note that even with data in eight NIRCam filters, objects of this type remain degenerate with dusty galaxies and obscured active galactic nuclei over a wide range of redshifts. Follow-up spectroscopy would be required to pin down the nature of these objects. Based on our sample of DCBH candidates and assumptions on the typical duration of the DCBH steep-slope state, we set a conservative upper limit of $\lesssim 5\times 10^{-4}$ comoving Mpc$^{-3}$ (cMpc$^{-3}$) on the comoving density of host halos capable of hosting DCBHs with spectral energy distributions similar to the Pacucci et al. (2016) models at $z\approx 6$-14.
title A search for high-redshift direct-collapse black hole candidates in the PEARLS north ecliptic pole field
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.07260