International School of Advanced Studies, Italy | 2020 Mar 23
According to classical theories, these space giants would not have had the time to develop in the young universe. Yet, observations say they were already present. A new study by SISSA proposes a response to the fascinating mystery.
They are billions of times larger than our Sun: how is it possible that, as recently observed, supermassive black holes were already present when the universe, now 14 billion years old, was “just” 800 million years old? For astrophysicists, the formation of these cosmic monsters in such a short time is a real scientific headache, which raises important questions on the current knowledge of the development of these celestial bodies. A recent article ... offers a possible explanation to the thorny issue. Thanks to an original model theorized by the scientists from Trieste, the study proposes a very fast formation process in the initial phases of the development of the supermassive black holes, those up to now considered slower. Proving, mathematically, that their existence was possible in the young universe, the results of the research reconcile the timing required for their growth with the limits imposed by the age of the cosmos. The validity of the theory can be fully validated thanks to future gravitational wave detectors namely Einstein Telescope and LISA, but tested in several basic aspects also with the current Advanced LIGO/Virgo system. ...
Growth of Supermassive Black Hole Seeds in ETG Star-forming Progenitors:
Multiple Merging of Stellar Compact Remnants via Gaseous Dynamical
Friction and Gravitational-wave Emission ~ L. Boco, A. Lapi, L. Danese
- Astrophysical Journal 891(1):94 (2020 Mar 01) DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab7446
- arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:2002.03645 > 10 Feb 2020