# Eddington-Limited Accretion in z~2 WISE-selected Hot, Dust-Obscured Galaxies

## TL;DR

This study measures supermassive black hole masses in z~2 Hot DOGs, revealing they are accreting near the Eddington limit, and suggests they are in a transitional phase of galaxy evolution.

## Contribution

First direct SMBH mass measurements in Hot DOGs at z~2, demonstrating their high accretion rates and transitional evolutionary status.

## Key findings

- SMBH masses around 10^9 solar masses
- Eddington ratios close to unity
- Hot DOGs are the most luminous AGNs for their black hole masses

## Abstract

Hot, Dust-Obscured Galaxies, or "Hot DOGs", are a rare, dusty, hyperluminous galaxy population discovered by the WISE mission. Predominantly at redshifts 2-3, they include the most luminous known galaxies in the universe. Their high luminosities likely come from accretion onto highly obscured super massive black holes (SMBHs). We have conducted a pilot survey to measure the SMBH masses of five z~2 Hot DOGs via broad H_alpha emission lines, using Keck/MOSFIRE and Gemini/FLAMINGOS-2. We detect broad H_alpha emission in all five Hot DOGs. We find substantial corresponding SMBH masses for these Hot DOGs (~ 10^{9} M_sun), and their derived Eddington ratios are close to unity. These z~2 Hot DOGs are the most luminous AGNs at given BH masses, suggesting they are accreting at the maximum rates for their BHs. A similar property is found for known z~6 quasars. Our results are consistent with scenarios in which Hot DOGs represent a transitional, high-accretion phase between obscured and unobscured quasars. Hot DOGs may mark a special evolutionary stage before the red quasar and optical quasar phases, and they may be present at other cosmic epochs.