Radio Power from Direct-collapse Black Holes

Author(s): Daniel Whalen, Mar Mezcua, Samuel J. Patrick, Avery Meiksin, Muhammad A. Latif
Abstract: Direct-collapse black holes (DCBHs) forming at z ~ 20 are currently the leading candidates for the seeds of the first quasars, over 200 of which have now been found at z > 6. Recent studies suggest that DCBHs could be detected in the near-infrared by the James Webb Space Telescope, Euclid, and the Roman Space Telescope. However, new radio telescopes with unprecedented sensitivities such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and the Next-Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) may open another window on the properties of DCBHs in the coming decade. Here we estimate the radio flux from DCBHs at birth at z = 8-20 with several fundamental planes of black hole accretion. We find that they could be detected at z ~ 8 by the SKA-FIN all-sky survey. Furthermore, SKA and ngVLA could discover 10⁶-10⁷ M_⊙ BHs out to z ~ 20, probing the formation pathways of the first quasars in the universe.
Organisation(s): Department of Astrophysics
External organisation(s): University of Portsmouth, Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), University of Edinburgh, United Arab Emirates University
Journal: The Astrophysical journal Letters
Volume: 922
No. of pages: 7
ISSN: 2041-8205
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac35e6
Publication date: 12-2021
Peer reviewed: Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012: 103003 Astronomy, 103004 Astrophysics, 103044 Cosmology
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space and Planetary Science
Portal url: https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/c8335c83-57cd-4a1f-bb5e-24837f5b30f6

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