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A search for high-redshift direct-collapse black hole candidates in the PEARLS north ecliptic pole field

From National Research Council Canada

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DOIResolve DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202347724
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Affiliation
  1. National Research Council of Canada. Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics
FunderSearch for: Olle Engkvists Stiftelse; Search for: Swedish Research Council; Search for: Swedish National Space Agency; Search for: National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Search for: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory; Search for: John Templeton Foundation; Search for: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; Search for: National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Search for: Goddard Space Flight Center; Search for: European Research Council; Search for: National Research Council of Canada; Search for: Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions
FormatText, Article
Subjectstars: black holes; stars: Population II; stars: Population III; quasars: supermassive black holes; early Universe; infrared: general
Abstract
Direct-collapse black holes (DCBHs) of mass ~10⁴–10⁵ M⊙ that form in HI-cooling halos in the early Universe are promising progenitors of the ≥10⁹ M⊙ supermassive black holes that fuel observed z ≥ 7 quasars. Efficient accretion of the surrounding gas onto such DCBH seeds may render them sufficiently bright for detection with the JWST up to z ≈ 20. Additionally, the very steep and red spectral slope predicted across the ≈1–5 μm wavelength range of the JWST/NIRSpec instrument during their initial growth phase should make them photometrically identifiable up to very high redshifts. In this work, we present a search for such DCBH candidates across the 34 arcmin² in the first two spokes of the JWST cycle-1 PEARLS survey of the north ecliptic pole time-domain field covering eight NIRCam filters down to a maximum depth of ≈29 AB mag. We identify two objects with spectral energy distributions consistent with theoretical DCBH models. However, we also note that even with data in eight NIRCam filters, objects of this type remain degenerate with dusty galaxies and obscured active galactic nuclei over a wide range of redshifts. Follow-up spectroscopy would be required to pin down the nature of these objects. Based on our sample of DCBH candidates and assumptions on the typical duration of the DCBH steep-slope state, we set a conservative upper limit of <5 × 10⁻⁴ comoving Mpc⁻³ (cMpc⁻³) on the comoving density of host halos capable of hosting DCBHs with spectral energy distributions similar to the theoretical models at z ≈ 6–14.
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PublisherEDP Sciences
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  • Astronomy & Astrophysics 683, A58 (6 March 2024): 1–9.
LanguageEnglish
Peer reviewedYes
Identifieraa47724-23
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Record identifier34307389-3664-4ec5-a5ce-c8fac7c7d97d
Record created2024-09-05
Record modified2024-09-05
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