Little Red Dots from Ultra-Strongly Self-Interacting Dark Matter
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arXiv
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| Autori principali: | , , , , |
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| Natura: | Preprint |
| Pubblicazione: |
2025
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| _version_ | 1866918376777973760 |
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| author | Roberts, M. Grant Braff, Lila Garg, Aarna Profumo, Stefano Jeltema, Tesla |
| author_facet | Roberts, M. Grant Braff, Lila Garg, Aarna Profumo, Stefano Jeltema, Tesla |
| contents | We investigate the possibility that the recently identified population of high-redshift, obscured quasars - known as "Little Red Dots" (LRDs) - originates from early black hole seed formation driven by ultra-strongly self-interacting dark matter (uSIDM). In this framework, dark matter halos undergo gravothermal core collapse due to large self-interaction cross sections, resulting in the rapid formation of massive black hole (BH) seeds with masses $\gtrsim 10^{5} M_\odot$ at redshifts $z \gtrsim 5$. We develop a semi-analytic model that tracks the evolution of the dark matter halo population, the redshift of collapse $z_{\rm coll}$, and the corresponding BH mass function. Black hole growth is modeled stochastically via a log-normal Eddington ratio distribution and a finite duty cycle. We find that the uSIDM scenario naturally reproduces key observed properties of LRDs, including their abundance, compactness, and characteristic BH masses, while offering a mechanism for early, obscured black hole formation that is difficult to achieve in standard CDM-based models. The predicted SMBH mass function at $z \sim 5$ shows excellent agreement with LRD observational data and SIDM merger-tree simulations, particularly at the high-mass end $(m_{\rm BH} \gtrsim 10^{7} M_\odot)$. These results suggest that LRDs may serve as powerful observational tracers of exotic dark sector physics and that SMBH formation in the early universe could be significantly shaped by non-gravitational dark matter interactions. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_03230 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Little Red Dots from Ultra-Strongly Self-Interacting Dark Matter Roberts, M. Grant Braff, Lila Garg, Aarna Profumo, Stefano Jeltema, Tesla Astrophysics of Galaxies We investigate the possibility that the recently identified population of high-redshift, obscured quasars - known as "Little Red Dots" (LRDs) - originates from early black hole seed formation driven by ultra-strongly self-interacting dark matter (uSIDM). In this framework, dark matter halos undergo gravothermal core collapse due to large self-interaction cross sections, resulting in the rapid formation of massive black hole (BH) seeds with masses $\gtrsim 10^{5} M_\odot$ at redshifts $z \gtrsim 5$. We develop a semi-analytic model that tracks the evolution of the dark matter halo population, the redshift of collapse $z_{\rm coll}$, and the corresponding BH mass function. Black hole growth is modeled stochastically via a log-normal Eddington ratio distribution and a finite duty cycle. We find that the uSIDM scenario naturally reproduces key observed properties of LRDs, including their abundance, compactness, and characteristic BH masses, while offering a mechanism for early, obscured black hole formation that is difficult to achieve in standard CDM-based models. The predicted SMBH mass function at $z \sim 5$ shows excellent agreement with LRD observational data and SIDM merger-tree simulations, particularly at the high-mass end $(m_{\rm BH} \gtrsim 10^{7} M_\odot)$. These results suggest that LRDs may serve as powerful observational tracers of exotic dark sector physics and that SMBH formation in the early universe could be significantly shaped by non-gravitational dark matter interactions. |
| title | Little Red Dots from Ultra-Strongly Self-Interacting Dark Matter |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.03230 |