SMBH Formation via Gas Accretion in Nuclear Stellar Clusters

TL;DR

This paper proposes a new mechanism for rapid supermassive black hole seed formation through gas-induced contraction and core collapse in nuclear stellar clusters, enabling fast black hole mergers in the early universe.

Contribution

It introduces a novel process where gas inflow causes cluster contraction and core collapse, leading to quick black hole seed formation, which was not previously modeled.

Findings

Dense star clusters can contract rapidly due to gas inflow.

Core collapse leads to high-density conditions for black hole mergers.

Potential formation of black hole seeds exceeding 10^5 solar masses.

Abstract

Black holes exceeding a billion solar masses have been detected at redshifts greater than six. The rapid formation of these objects may suggest a massive early seed or a period of growth faster than Eddington. Here we suggest a new mechanism along these lines. We propose that in the process of hierarchical structure assembly, dense star clusters can be contracted on dynamical time scales due to the nearly free-fall inflow of self-gravitating gas with a mass comparable to or larger than that of the clusters. This increases the velocity dispersion to the point that the few remaining hard binaries can no longer effectively heat the cluster, and the cluster goes into a period of homologous core collapse. The cluster core can then reach a central density high enough for fast mergers of stellar-mass black holes and hence the rapid production of a black hole seed that could be $10^5 M_\odot$ or larger.