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Main Authors: Latif, Muhammad A., Whalen, Daniel J., Khochfar, Sadegh, Cullen, Fergus
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.28682
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author Latif, Muhammad A.
Whalen, Daniel J.
Khochfar, Sadegh
Cullen, Fergus
author_facet Latif, Muhammad A.
Whalen, Daniel J.
Khochfar, Sadegh
Cullen, Fergus
contents Overmassive black hole galaxies (OBGs) at redshifts $z \sim$ 10, or 450 Myr after the Big Bang, are one of the most puzzling discoveries by the James Webb Space Telescope to date because they formed by such early epochs and their black-hole to stellar mass ratios are a hundred times higher than those in galaxies today. Here we show that OBGs are simply the result of DCBH birth in primordial halos at early times. A 70,000 M$_{\odot}$ DCBH forming at $z =$ 25.7 in our cosmological simulation grows at about half the Eddington rate to $6.0 \times 10^6$ M$_{\odot}$ by $z =$ 10.1. Its host galaxy reaches a stellar mass of $4 \times 10^8$ M$_{\odot}$, a metallicity $Z =$ 0.1 Z$_{\odot}$, a star formation rate of 2 M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$, and $M_{\rm BH}/M_{\ast}$ $\sim$ 0.01, on par with OBGs like GN-z11, UHZ1, and GHZ9 at $z =$ 10.6, 10.1, and 10.2, respectively. Our simulation, the first to follow the coevolution of a DCBH and its host galaxy for several hundred Myr, shows that this ratio is a natural result of initial suppression of star formation by the DCBH and the later, violent blowout of metals by Pop III supernovae. Our models provide an excellent match to the spectra of UHZ1 and GHZ9 at $z =$ 10.1 and 10.4, respectively.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_28682
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle How Overmassive Black Holes Formed at Cosmic Dawn
Latif, Muhammad A.
Whalen, Daniel J.
Khochfar, Sadegh
Cullen, Fergus
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Overmassive black hole galaxies (OBGs) at redshifts $z \sim$ 10, or 450 Myr after the Big Bang, are one of the most puzzling discoveries by the James Webb Space Telescope to date because they formed by such early epochs and their black-hole to stellar mass ratios are a hundred times higher than those in galaxies today. Here we show that OBGs are simply the result of DCBH birth in primordial halos at early times. A 70,000 M$_{\odot}$ DCBH forming at $z =$ 25.7 in our cosmological simulation grows at about half the Eddington rate to $6.0 \times 10^6$ M$_{\odot}$ by $z =$ 10.1. Its host galaxy reaches a stellar mass of $4 \times 10^8$ M$_{\odot}$, a metallicity $Z =$ 0.1 Z$_{\odot}$, a star formation rate of 2 M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$, and $M_{\rm BH}/M_{\ast}$ $\sim$ 0.01, on par with OBGs like GN-z11, UHZ1, and GHZ9 at $z =$ 10.6, 10.1, and 10.2, respectively. Our simulation, the first to follow the coevolution of a DCBH and its host galaxy for several hundred Myr, shows that this ratio is a natural result of initial suppression of star formation by the DCBH and the later, violent blowout of metals by Pop III supernovae. Our models provide an excellent match to the spectra of UHZ1 and GHZ9 at $z =$ 10.1 and 10.4, respectively.
title How Overmassive Black Holes Formed at Cosmic Dawn
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.28682