Special CRA Seminar – Jonathan C. Tan [Host John Wise]
March 7 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Title: The Origin of Supermassive Black Holes from Pop III.1 Seeds
Abstract: The origin of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) is a key open question for contemporary astrophysics and cosmology. Here we discuss the predictions of a model of SMBH formation from Pop III.1 protostars, i.e., metal-free stars forming in locally isolated dark matter minihalos, where dark matter annihilation has a chance to alter the structure of the star allowing growth to supermassive scales (Banik, Tan & Monaco 2019; Singh, Monaco & Tan 2023; Cammelli et al. 2025). The model predicts that all SMBHs form very early in the Universe (within a few 100 Myr, i.e., by z ~ 20) with a spatial distribution that is initially relatively unclustered. We also present predictions for SMBH occupation fractions, host galaxy properties, frequency of binary SMBHs and the gravitational wave background from this SMBH population. These predictions are compared to latest results from the Hubble Space Telescope, James Webb Spact Telescope and pulsar timing array observations.