1. Boosting Supermassive Black Hole Growth in the Early Universe by Fuzzy Dark Matter Solitons
- Author
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Chiu, H. -H. Sandy, Schive, Hsi-Yu, Yang, Hsiang-Yi Karen, Huang, Hsinhao, and Gaspari, Massimo
- Subjects
Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics ,Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies - Abstract
Observations of massive supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the early universe challenge existing black hole formation models. We propose that soliton cores in fuzzy dark matter (FDM) offer a potential solution to this timing problem. Our FDM cosmological zoom-in simulations confirm that for a particle mass $m_{\rm FDM}\sim 10^{-22}~{\rm eV}$, solitons are well developed at redshift $z \sim 7$ with masses of $\sim10^9~M_\odot$, comparable to the observed SMBHs. We then demonstrate using hydrodynamic simulations that, compared to cold dark matter, these high-$z$ massive FDM solitons with mass $M_s$ can provide additional gravitational potential to accrete gas and boost the Bondi accretion rate of a growing black hole seed with mass $M_{\rm BH}$ by up to two to four orders of magnitude, in the regime of efficient cooling and negligible radiation pressure. This accretion boosting mechanism is effective for $10^{-22}~{\rm eV} \lesssim m_{\rm FDM} \lesssim 10^{-20}~{\rm eV}$ and potentially beyond as long as $M_s > M_{\rm BH}$. The simulation code GAMER is accessible at https://github.com/gamer-project/gamer., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters
- Published
- 2025