Little Red Dots as Direct-collapse Black Hole Nurseries
Elia Cenci, Melanie Habouzit

TL;DR
This paper investigates whether direct-collapse black holes (DCBHs) formed in early Universe simulations could be the origin of observed Little Red Dots, a class of compact, high-redshift active galactic nuclei candidates.
Contribution
The study introduces a detailed DCBH formation model into cosmological simulations and compares the resulting DCBH population with observed properties of LRDs.
Findings
DCBH formation peaks at z>6, declining at z<6, similar to LRD emergence
DCBHs are linked to gas compaction events and intense luminosity phases
Simulated DCBHs may explain LRDs' weak X-ray and hot dust emission
Abstract
The James Webb Space Telescope recently uncovered a population of massive black holes (BHs) in the first billion years after the Big Bang. Among these high-redshift BH candidates, observations have identified a class of active galactic nuclei candidates, dubbed Little Red Dots (LRDs), with extraordinarily compact gas reservoirs and peculiar spectral features. LRDs clearly emerge at redshift z<8 and their abundance declines by z<5. Recent theoretical studies have explored the link between LRDs and the formation of heavy BH seeds in the early Universe, such as direct-collapse BHs (DCBHs). Here we present results from preliminary runs for the MELIORA cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, where we implement an accurate model for DCBH formation, accounting for the Lyman-Werner radiation field and mass-inflow rates in the target host haloes. We aim to test whether or not DCBH formation…
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