Cosmic String Loops as the Seeds of Super-Massive Black Holes

TL;DR

Cosmic string loops from early universe phase transitions could provide the initial compact seeds necessary for the formation of super-massive black holes observed at high redshifts, addressing a key challenge in cosmology.

Contribution

This paper proposes that cosmic string loops serve as a new source of seed black holes, potentially explaining the early formation of super-massive black holes.

Findings

Cosmic string loops can dominate seed formation at high redshifts.

String-induced seeds can trigger super-massive black hole formation.

The model aligns with observed black hole abundance at high redshifts.

Abstract

Recent discoveries of super-massive black holes at high redshifts indicate a possible tension with the standard Lambda CDM paradigm of early universe cosmology which has difficulties in explaining the origin of the required nonlinear compact seeds which trigger the formation of these super-massive black holes. Here we show that cosmic string loops which result from a scaling solution of strings formed during a phase transition in the very early universe lead to an additional source of compact seeds. The number density of string-induced seeds dominates at high redshifts and can help trigger the formation of the observed super-massive black holes.