Kavli Affiliate: Mark Vogelsberger
| First 5 Authors: Fangzhou Jiang, Fangzhou Jiang, , ,
| Summary:
We present a statistical study of black hole (BH) formation and growth seeded
by gravothermal core collapse of self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) halos at
high redshift, using a cosmological semi-analytical framework based on Monte
Carlo merger trees. We demonstrate that gravothermal collapse naturally leads
to BH formation in high-concentration halos at a characteristic mass scale set
by the SIDM cross section, and occurs predominantly in the early Universe. This
mechanism is particularly promising for explaining the abundance of the little
red dots (LRDs) — a population of early, apparently galaxy-less active
galactic nuclei hosting supermassive BHs. By incorporating this seeding process
with simple models of BH growth and assuming a 100% duty cycle, we reproduce
the observed LRD mass function for velocity-dependent cross sections of
$sigma_0m sim 30,mathrmcm^2,mathrmg^-1$ and $omega sim
80,mathrmkm,mathrms^-1$, which are consistent with independent
constraints from local galaxies. While higher values of $sigma_0m$ (or
$omega$) would overpredict the low-mass (or high-mass) end of the BH mass
function, such deviations could be reconciled by invoking a reduced duty cycle
or lower Eddington ratio. Our results suggest that the demographics of
high-redshift BHs can serve as a novel and complementary probe of SIDM physics.
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