Synthetic Spectral Library of Optically Thick Atmospheres for Little Red Dots
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2026
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| author | Liu, Hanpu Jiang, Yan-Fei Quataert, Eliot Greene, Jenny E. Ma, Yilun Lin, Xiaojing |
| author_facet | Liu, Hanpu Jiang, Yan-Fei Quataert, Eliot Greene, Jenny E. Ma, Yilun Lin, Xiaojing |
| contents | Little Red Dots (LRDs) challenge conventional models of active galactic nuclei. At rest-optical-to-near-infrared (IR) wavelengths, these compact extragalactic objects show blackbody-like continuum emission and spectral features reminiscent of stars, motivating models with an optically thick atmosphere at $T_{\rm\!\,eff}\sim4000-5000{\rm~K}$. We develop (and publicly release) a synthetic spectral library of optically thick atmospheres with gas conditions tailored for LRDs, parameterized by effective temperature $T_{\rm\!\,eff}$ and surface gravity $g$. Given the uncertain dynamical structure of LRDs, we interpret $g$ most directly as a photospheric density $ρ_{\rm\!\,ph}$. We show that blackbodies are only crude approximations to the emission from LRD-like atmospheres. Spectral features are abundant, many of which are sensitive diagnostics of photospheric density, including the overall curvature of the spectral energy distribution, the rest-$1.6{\rm~μm}$ spectral ''kink'' from $\rm H^-$ opacity, and the Ca II triplet (CaT) absorption at rest-8500 $\unicode{x212B}$. When compared against a local LRD, \egg, all three features consistently indicate a low photospheric density of $ρ_{\rm\!\,ph}\sim 10^{-11}{\rm~g~cm^{-3}}$ ($g\sim10^{-3}{\rm~cm~s^{-2}}$ in our library). This disfavors hydrostatic configurations and suggests a mass within the photosphere (black hole plus gas) of $10^4~M_\odot$, with an Eddington ratio $λ_{\rm Edd}\gtrsim20$, if the CaT width traces turbulent support at the photosphere in spherical symmetry; the inferred mass could be higher depending on the geometry and the radius probed by CaT. For higher redshift LRDs, we advocate for rest-near-IR spectroscopic surveys and high-resolution spectra of potential absorption lines as a test of the optically thick atmosphere scenario and as a unique probe of the central engine mass. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_02317 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Synthetic Spectral Library of Optically Thick Atmospheres for Little Red Dots Liu, Hanpu Jiang, Yan-Fei Quataert, Eliot Greene, Jenny E. Ma, Yilun Lin, Xiaojing Astrophysics of Galaxies Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Little Red Dots (LRDs) challenge conventional models of active galactic nuclei. At rest-optical-to-near-infrared (IR) wavelengths, these compact extragalactic objects show blackbody-like continuum emission and spectral features reminiscent of stars, motivating models with an optically thick atmosphere at $T_{\rm\!\,eff}\sim4000-5000{\rm~K}$. We develop (and publicly release) a synthetic spectral library of optically thick atmospheres with gas conditions tailored for LRDs, parameterized by effective temperature $T_{\rm\!\,eff}$ and surface gravity $g$. Given the uncertain dynamical structure of LRDs, we interpret $g$ most directly as a photospheric density $ρ_{\rm\!\,ph}$. We show that blackbodies are only crude approximations to the emission from LRD-like atmospheres. Spectral features are abundant, many of which are sensitive diagnostics of photospheric density, including the overall curvature of the spectral energy distribution, the rest-$1.6{\rm~μm}$ spectral ''kink'' from $\rm H^-$ opacity, and the Ca II triplet (CaT) absorption at rest-8500 $\unicode{x212B}$. When compared against a local LRD, \egg, all three features consistently indicate a low photospheric density of $ρ_{\rm\!\,ph}\sim 10^{-11}{\rm~g~cm^{-3}}$ ($g\sim10^{-3}{\rm~cm~s^{-2}}$ in our library). This disfavors hydrostatic configurations and suggests a mass within the photosphere (black hole plus gas) of $10^4~M_\odot$, with an Eddington ratio $λ_{\rm Edd}\gtrsim20$, if the CaT width traces turbulent support at the photosphere in spherical symmetry; the inferred mass could be higher depending on the geometry and the radius probed by CaT. For higher redshift LRDs, we advocate for rest-near-IR spectroscopic surveys and high-resolution spectra of potential absorption lines as a test of the optically thick atmosphere scenario and as a unique probe of the central engine mass. |
| title | Synthetic Spectral Library of Optically Thick Atmospheres for Little Red Dots |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Solar and Stellar Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.02317 |