Kavli Affiliate: Roberto Maiolino
| First 5 Authors: Fabio Pacucci, Bao Nguyen, Stefano Carniani, Roberto Maiolino, Xiaohui Fan
| Summary:
JWST is revolutionizing our understanding of the high-z Universe by expanding
the black hole horizon, looking farther and to smaller masses, and revealing
the stellar light of their hosts. New detections of high-z systems offer
unprecedented insights into the formation of the first black holes and their
early co-evolution with galaxies. By examining JWST galaxies at z=4-7 that host
H$alpha$-detected black holes, we investigate (i) the high-z
$M_bullet-M_star$ relation and (ii) the black hole mass distribution,
especially in its low-mass range ($M_bulletlesssim10^{6.5} M_odot$). With a
detailed statistical analysis, our findings conclusively reveal a high-z
$M_bullet-M_star$ relation that deviates at $>3sigma$ confidence level from
the local relation: $log(M_bullet/M_odot) =
-2.38^{+0.82}_{-0.83}+1.06^{+0.09}_{-0.09}log(M_star/M_odot)$. Black holes
are overmassive by $sim10-100times$ compared to their local counterparts in
similar galactic hosts. This fact is not due to a selection effect in surveys.
Moreover, our analysis predicts the possibility of detecting in high-z JWST
surveys $5-18times$ more black holes with $M_bulletlesssim10^{6.5} M_odot$,
and $10-30times$ more with $M_bullet lesssim 10^{8.5} M_odot$, compared to
local relation’s predictions. The lighter black holes preferentially occupy
galaxies with a stellar mass of $sim 10^{7.5}-10^8 M_odot$. We have yet to
detect these sources because (i) they may be inactive (duty cycles 1%-10%),
(ii) the host overshines the AGN, or (iii) the AGN is obscured and not
immediately recognizable by line diagnostics. A search of low-mass black holes
in existing JWST surveys will further test the $M_bullet-M_star$ relation.
Current JWST fields represent a treasure trove of black hole systems at z=4-7;
their detection will provide crucial insights into their early evolution and
co-evolution with their galactic hosts.
| Search Query: ArXiv Query: search_query=au:”Roberto Maiolino”&id_list=&start=0&max_results=3