A candidate supermassive black hole in a gravitationally-lensed galaxy at $z\approx10$

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Main Authors: Kovacs, Orsolya E., Bogdan, Akos, Natarajan, Priyamvada, Werner, Norbert, Azadi, Mojegan, Volonteri, Marta, Tremblay, Grant R., Chadayammuri, Urmila, Forman, William R., Jones, Christine, Kraft, Ralph P.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Kovacs, Orsolya E.
Bogdan, Akos
Natarajan, Priyamvada
Werner, Norbert
Azadi, Mojegan
Volonteri, Marta
Tremblay, Grant R.
Chadayammuri, Urmila
Forman, William R.
Jones, Christine
Kraft, Ralph P.
author_facet Kovacs, Orsolya E.
Bogdan, Akos
Natarajan, Priyamvada
Werner, Norbert
Azadi, Mojegan
Volonteri, Marta
Tremblay, Grant R.
Chadayammuri, Urmila
Forman, William R.
Jones, Christine
Kraft, Ralph P.
contents While supermassive black holes (BHs) are widely observed in the nearby and distant universe, their origin remains debated with two viable formation scenarios with light and heavy seeds. In the light seeding model, the first BHs form from the collapse of massive stars with masses of $10-100 \ \rm{M_{\odot}}$, while the heavy seeding model posits the formation of $10^{4-5} \ \rm{M_{\odot}}$ seeds from direct collapse. The detection of BHs at redshifts $z\gtrsim10$, edging closer to their formation epoch, provides critical observational discrimination between these scenarios. Here, we focus on the JWST-detected galaxy, GHZ 9, at $z\approx10$ that is lensed by the foreground cluster, Abell 2744. Based on 2.1 Ms deep Chandra observations, we detect a candidate X-ray AGN, which is spatially coincident with the high-redshift galaxy, GHZ 9. The BH candidate is inferred to have a bolometric luminosity of $(1.0^{+0.5}_{-0.4})\times10^{46} \ \rm{erg \ s^{-1}}$, which corresponds to a BH mass of $(8.0^{+3.7}_{-3.2})\times10^7 \ \rm{M_{\odot}}$ assuming Eddington-limited accretion. This extreme mass at such an early cosmic epoch suggests the heavy seed origin for this BH candidate. Based on the Chandra and JWST discoveries of extremely high-redshift quasars, we have constructed the first simple AGN luminosity function extending to $z\approx10$. Comparison of this luminosity function with theoretical models indicates an over-abundant $z\approx10$ BH population, consistent with a higher-than-expected seed formation efficiency.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2403_14745
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A candidate supermassive black hole in a gravitationally-lensed galaxy at $z\approx10$
Kovacs, Orsolya E.
Bogdan, Akos
Natarajan, Priyamvada
Werner, Norbert
Azadi, Mojegan
Volonteri, Marta
Tremblay, Grant R.
Chadayammuri, Urmila
Forman, William R.
Jones, Christine
Kraft, Ralph P.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
While supermassive black holes (BHs) are widely observed in the nearby and distant universe, their origin remains debated with two viable formation scenarios with light and heavy seeds. In the light seeding model, the first BHs form from the collapse of massive stars with masses of $10-100 \ \rm{M_{\odot}}$, while the heavy seeding model posits the formation of $10^{4-5} \ \rm{M_{\odot}}$ seeds from direct collapse. The detection of BHs at redshifts $z\gtrsim10$, edging closer to their formation epoch, provides critical observational discrimination between these scenarios. Here, we focus on the JWST-detected galaxy, GHZ 9, at $z\approx10$ that is lensed by the foreground cluster, Abell 2744. Based on 2.1 Ms deep Chandra observations, we detect a candidate X-ray AGN, which is spatially coincident with the high-redshift galaxy, GHZ 9. The BH candidate is inferred to have a bolometric luminosity of $(1.0^{+0.5}_{-0.4})\times10^{46} \ \rm{erg \ s^{-1}}$, which corresponds to a BH mass of $(8.0^{+3.7}_{-3.2})\times10^7 \ \rm{M_{\odot}}$ assuming Eddington-limited accretion. This extreme mass at such an early cosmic epoch suggests the heavy seed origin for this BH candidate. Based on the Chandra and JWST discoveries of extremely high-redshift quasars, we have constructed the first simple AGN luminosity function extending to $z\approx10$. Comparison of this luminosity function with theoretical models indicates an over-abundant $z\approx10$ BH population, consistent with a higher-than-expected seed formation efficiency.
title A candidate supermassive black hole in a gravitationally-lensed galaxy at $z\approx10$
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.14745