Dust Attenuation of Lyman-Werner Feedback: Reassessing Early Super Massive Black Holes Seed Formation

Fuente: arXiv
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Autore principale: Sen, Bisweswar
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Sen, Bisweswar
author_facet Sen, Bisweswar
contents We investigate the impact of dust shielding on Lyman-Werner (LW) radiation fields and its implications for supermassive black hole (SMBH) seed formation at high redshift. Using a custom-built semi-analytical model developed specifically for this study, we implement a simple dust shielding prescription that accounts for the absorption of LW photons by dust grains. We find that even modest dust enrichment can significantly reduce the effective LW radiation field, allowing H$_2$ cooling to persist in regions previously thought to be affected by LW feedback. This changes the conditions for seed formation, particularly for heavy seeds which require suppression of H$_2$ cooling. Our results suggest that dust shielding extends the redshift range and volume where heavy seeds can form, and significantly alters the relative importance of different seed populations. We discuss the implications for the formation of high-redshift SMBHs and future observations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_11111
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Dust Attenuation of Lyman-Werner Feedback: Reassessing Early Super Massive Black Holes Seed Formation
Sen, Bisweswar
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
We investigate the impact of dust shielding on Lyman-Werner (LW) radiation fields and its implications for supermassive black hole (SMBH) seed formation at high redshift. Using a custom-built semi-analytical model developed specifically for this study, we implement a simple dust shielding prescription that accounts for the absorption of LW photons by dust grains. We find that even modest dust enrichment can significantly reduce the effective LW radiation field, allowing H$_2$ cooling to persist in regions previously thought to be affected by LW feedback. This changes the conditions for seed formation, particularly for heavy seeds which require suppression of H$_2$ cooling. Our results suggest that dust shielding extends the redshift range and volume where heavy seeds can form, and significantly alters the relative importance of different seed populations. We discuss the implications for the formation of high-redshift SMBHs and future observations.
title Dust Attenuation of Lyman-Werner Feedback: Reassessing Early Super Massive Black Holes Seed Formation
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.11111