The Black Hole Mass Function Across Cosmic Times I. Stellar Black Holes and Light Seed Distribution

Abstract

This is the first paper in a series aimed at modeling the black hole (BH) mass function, from the stellar to the intermediate to the (super)massive regime. In the present work we focus on stellar BHs and provide an ab-initio computation of their mass function across cosmic times. Specifically, we exploit the state-of-the-art stellar and binary evolutionary code \texttt{SEVN}, and couple its outputs with redshift-dependent galaxy statistics and empirical scaling relations involving galaxy metallicity, star-formation rate and stellar mass. The resulting relic mass function $\mathrm{d}N/\mathrm{d}V\mathrm{d}\log m_{\bullet }$ as a function of the BH mass $m_{\bullet }$ features a rather flat shape up to $m_{\bullet }\approx 50M_{\odot }$ and then a log-normal decline for larger masses, while its overall normalization at a given mass increases with decreasing redshift. We highlight the contribution to the local mass function from isolated stars evolving into BHs and from binary stellar systems ending up in single or binary BHs. We also include the distortion on the mass function induced by binary BH mergers, finding that it has a minor effect at the high-mass end. We estimate a local stellar BH relic mass density of ${\rho }_{\bullet }\approx 5\times 10^7{M}_{\odot }$ Mpc${}^{-3}$, which exceeds by more than two orders of magnitude that in supermassive BHs; this translates into an energy density parameter ${\Omega }_{\bullet }\approx 4\times 10^{-4}$, implying that the total mass in stellar BHs amounts to $\lesssim 1\%$ of the local baryonic matter. We show how our mass function for merging BH binaries compares with the recent estimates from gravitational wave observations by LIGO/Virgo, and discuss the possible implications for dynamical formation of BH binaries in dense environments like star clusters. [abridged]

arXiv comment28 pages, 14 figures. Accepted by ApJ

References in corpus (138)

• On the variation of the Initial Mass Function
• Coevolution (Or Not) of Supermassive Black Holes and Host Galaxies
• Cosmic Star Formation History
• Star Formation in the Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies
• Binary interaction dominates the evolution of massive stars
• Evolution of binary stars and the effect of tides on binary populations
• A Survey of Stellar Families: Multiplicity of Solar-Type Stars
• GW190814: Gravitational Waves from the Coalescence of a 23 M${}_{\odot }$ Black Hole with a 2.6 M${}_{\odot }$ Compact Object
• A luminous quasar at a redshift of z = 7.085
• A Highly Consistent Framework for the Evolution of the Star-Forming "Main Sequence" from z~0-6
• A fundamental relation between mass, SFR and metallicity in local and high redshift galaxies
• Common Envelope Evolution: Where we stand and how we can move forward
• Massive Black Holes as Population III Remnants
• The Chemical Evolution of the Galaxy: the two-infall model
• Solar Chemical Abundances Determined with a CO5BOLD 3D Model Atmosphere
• Constraining the Low-Mass Slope of the Star Formation Sequence at 0.5<z<2.5
• The lesser role of starbursts for star formation at z=2
• The Galactic disk mass function: reconciliation of the HST and nearby determinations
• The Herschel view of the dominant mode of galaxy growth from z=4 to the present day
• Formation of Supermassive Black Holes
• Observation of gravitational waves from two neutron star-black hole coalescences
• The formation of massive black holes through collision runaway in dense young star clusters
• Pulsational Pair-Instability Supernovae
• What Drives the Growth of Black Holes?
• The Cosmic Energy Inventory
• PRIMUS: Constraints on Star Formation Quenching and Galaxy Merging, and the Evolution of the Stellar Mass Function From z=0-1
• The Mass Distribution of Stellar-Mass Black Holes
• Self-Consistent Models of the AGN and Black Hole Populations: Duty Cycles, Accretion Rates, and the Mean Radiative Efficiency
• The Galactic O-Star Spectroscopic Survey (GOSSS). II. Bright Southern Stars
• A Substantial Population of Low Mass Stars in Luminous Elliptical Galaxies
• Supermassive black hole formation during the assembly of pre-galactic discs
• Early Star Formation and the Evolution of the Stellar Initial Mass Function in Galaxies
• Double Compact Objects III: Gravitational Wave Detection Rates
• On the fraction of star formation occurring in bound stellar clusters
• New Determinations of the UV Luminosity Functions from z~9 to z~2 show a remarkable consistency with halo growth and a constant star formation efficiency
• Binary Black Hole Mergers from Globular Clusters: Implications for Advanced LIGO
• Merging black hole binaries in galactic nuclei: implications for advanced-LIGO detections
• The Mass-Metallicity and the Fundamental Metallicity Relation revisited on a fully Te-based abundance scale for galaxies
• The Dearth of z~10 Galaxies in all HST Legacy Fields -- The Rapid Evolution of the Galaxy Population in the First 500 Myr
• The Effect of Pair-Instability Mass Loss on Black Hole Mergers
• Intermediate mass black holes in AGN disks: I. Production & Growth
• The progenitors of compact-object binaries: impact of metallicity, common envelope and natal kicks
• Super-massive Black Hole Demography: the Match between the Local and Accreted Mass Functions
• Multiwavelength study of massive galaxies at z~2. II. Widespread Compton thick AGN and the concurrent growth of black holes and bulges
• Very massive stars, pair-instability supernovae and intermediate-mass black holes with the SEVN code
• Radiation Backgrounds at Cosmic Dawn: X-Rays from Compact Binaries
• COSMIC Variance in Binary Population Synthesis
• Galaxy Masses
• The contribution of starbursts and normal galaxies to infrared luminosity functions at z < 2
• Hierarchical Black Hole Mergers in Active Galactic Nuclei
• The MOSDEF Survey: The Evolution of the Mass-Metallicity Relation from $z=0$ to $z\sim 3.3$
• Massive black hole binaries from runaway collisions: the impact of metallicity
• Merging black hole binaries with the SEVN code
• Merging black holes in young star clusters
• Selection bias in dynamically-measured super-massive black hole samples: its consequences and the quest for the most fundamental relation
• Super-Critical Growth of Massive Black Holes from Stellar-Mass Seeds
• Four-Body Effects in Globular Cluster Black Hole Coalescence
• MOCCA Code for Star Cluster Simulations - IV. A new Scenario for Intermediate Mass Black Hole Formation in Globular Clusters
• The E-MOSAICS Project: simulating the formation and co-evolution of galaxies and their star cluster populations
• Stellar black holes at the dawn of the universe
• Black hole growth through hierarchical black hole mergers in dense star clusters: implications for gravitational wave detections
• Mass function of dormant black holes and the evolution of the Active Galactic Nuclei
• Star Formation at $4<z<6$ From the Spitzer Large Area Survey with Hyper-Suprime-Cam (SPLASH)
• Accretion-Driven Evolution of Black Holes: Eddington Ratios, Duty Cycles, and Active Galaxy Fractions
• The ALPINE-ALMA [CII] Survey: The nature, luminosity function and star formation history of dusty galaxies up to z~6
• The case for super-critical accretion onto massive black holes at high redshift
• The metallicity of the long GRB hosts and the Fundamental Metallicity Relation of low-mass galaxies
• The Evolution of the IR Luminosity Function and Dust-obscured Star Formation in the Last 13 Billion Years
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XXII. Multiplicity properties of the B-type stars
• The VLA-COSMOS 3 GHz Large Project: The cosmic star formation history since z~5
• The formation and hierarchical assembly of globular cluster populations
• Ultra-luminous X-ray sources and remnants of massive metal-poor stars
• Hierarchical black hole mergers in young, globular and nuclear star clusters: the effect of metallicity, spin and cluster properties
• Binary black holes in young star clusters: the impact of metallicity
• The Star Formation Rate Function for Redshift z~4-7 Galaxies: Evidence for a Uniform Build-Up of Star-Forming Galaxies During the First 3 Gyr of Cosmic Time
• Star clusters near and far; tracing star formation across cosmic time
• Growing massive black holes through super-critical accretion of stellar-mass seeds
• The AMBRE Project: chemical evolution models for the Milky Way thick and thin discs
• The Evolution of Compact Binary Star Systems
• High-redshift formation and evolution of central massive objects II: The census of BH seeds
• The Coevolution of Supermassive Black Holes and Massive Galaxies at High Redshift
• The Black Hole Mass Function from Gravitational Wave Measurements
• Astrophysical Applications of Gravitational Microlensing
• Black Hole and Galaxy Coevolution from Continuity Equation and Abundance Matching
• Stellar-mass black holes in young massive and open stellar clusters IV: updated stellar-evolutionary and black hole spin models and comparisons with the LIGO-Virgo O1/O2 merger-event data
• Fingerprints of binary black hole formation channels encoded in the mass and spin of merger remnants
• The MUSE Hubble Ultra Deep Field Survey XI. Constraining the low-mass end of the stellar mass - star formation rate relation at $z<1$
• Star formation in galaxies at z~4-5 from the SMUVS survey: a clear starburst/main-sequence bimodality for Halpha emitters on the SFR-M* plane
• Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury XVI. Star Cluster Formation Efficiency and the Clustered Fraction of Young Stars
• The route to massive black hole formation via merger-driven direct collapse: a review
• Molecular gas in three z~7 quasar host galaxies
• The Metallicity Dependence of the High-Mass X-ray Binary Luminosity Function
• Binary black hole mergers: formation and populations
• A model for the formation of stellar associations and clusters from giant molecular clouds
• Observational constraints on the optical and near-infrared emission from the neutron star-black hole binary merger S190814bv
• Constraints on QSO models from a relation between the QSO luminosity function and the local black hole mass function
• Coevolution of metallicity and star formation in galaxies to z=3.7: I. A fundamental plane
• Metallicity of stars formed throughout the cosmic history based on the observational properties of star forming galaxies
• Gravitational-Wave Emission from Binary Black Holes Formed in Open Clusters
• Relationship between star formation rate and black hole accretion at z=2: The different contributions in quiescent, normal and starburst galaxies
• The Dramatic Size and Kinematic Evolution of Massive Early-Type Galaxies
• Evidence for an intermediate-mass black hole from a gravitationally lensed gamma-ray burst
• Conditions for Optimal Growth of Black Hole Seeds
• The binary fractions in the massive young Large Magellanic Cloud star clusters NGC 1805 and NGC 1818
• Accretion, radial flows and abundance gradients in spiral galaxies
• Mass Functions of Supermassive Black Holes Across Cosmic Time
• The Millennium Galaxy Catalogue: The $M_{bh}$--$L_{spheroid}$ derived supermassive black hole mass function
• A Search for Neutron Star-Black Hole Binary Mergers in the Short Gamma-Ray Burst Population
• Hierarchical black hole triples in young star clusters: impact of Kozai-Lidov resonance on mergers
• A powerful radio-loud quasar at the end of cosmic reionization
• The Fraction of Stars That Form in Clusters in Different Galaxies
• Inferring the star formation histories of the most massive and passive early-type galaxies at z<0.3
• Merging Rates of Compact Binaries in Galaxies: Perspectives for Gravitational Wave Detections
• Black hole and neutron star mergers in Galactic Nuclei: the role of triples
• Another thread in the tapestry of stellar feedback: X-ray binaries
• Constraining the Black Hole Initial Mass Function with LIGO/VIRGO Observations
• The Main Sequences of Starforming Galaxies and Active Galactic Nuclei at High Redshift
• The Quest for Dusty Star-forming Galaxies at High Redshift z>4
• Analysis of the SFR - M* plane at z<3: single fitting versus multi-Gaussian decomposition
• Evolution of Galaxy Star Formation and Metallicity: Impact on Double Compact Objects Mergers
• Double Compact Objects as Low-frequency Gravitational Wave Sources
• Cosmological evolution of supermassive black holes. I. mass function at 0<z<2
• New Analytic Solutions for Galaxy Evolution: Gas, Stars, Metals and Dust in local Early-Type Galaxies and in their high-z Starforming Progenitors
• Formation of supermassive black hole seeds in nuclear star clusters via gas accretion and runaway collisions
• Find the Gap: Black Hole Population Analysis with an Astrophysically Motivated Mass Function
• Two Thresholds for Globular Cluster Formation and their Dominance of Star Formation in the Early-Universe
• The local black hole mass function derived from the M_{BH}-P and the M_{BH}-n relations
• Stellar feedback from HMXBs in cosmological hydrodynamical simulations
• 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
• The Correlation between Black Hole Mass and Stellar Mass for Classical Bulges and the Cores of Ellipticals
• The impact of the Star Formation Histories on the SFR-M${}_{\ast }$ relation at z$\ge$2
• New Analytic Solutions for Galaxy Evolution II: Wind Recycling, Galactic Fountains and Late-Type Galaxies
• Binary Black Hole Merger Rates Inferred from Luminosity Function of Ultra-Luminous X-ray Sources
• The Evolution of the Low-Frequency Radio AGN Population to $z\simeq 1.5$ in the ELAIS N1 Field
• Growth of Massive Black Hole Seeds by Migration of Stellar and Primordial Black Holes: Gravitational Waves and Stochastic Background
• Black hole mass function and its evolution -- the first prediction for the Einstein Telescope
• Black Hole Mass Function of Coalescing Neutron Star-Black Hole Binary Systems: The Prospect of Reconstruction with the Gravitational Wave Observations
• ScamPy -- A sub-halo clustering & abundance matching based Python interface for painting galaxies on the dark matter halo/sub-halo hierarchy

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Overmassive black holes at cosmic noon: linking the local and the high-redshift Universe
• Dwarf AGNs from Variability for the Origins of Seeds (DAVOS): Intermediate-mass black hole demographics from optical synoptic surveys
• Detecting isolated stellar-mass black holes by the Roman telescope
• Searching for anisotropic stochastic gravitational-wave backgrounds with constellations of space-based interferometers
• The Black Hole Mass Function Across Cosmic Times II. Heavy Seeds and (Super)Massive Black Holes
• The detectability of single spinless stellar-mass black holes through gravitational lensing of gravitational waves with advanced LIGO
• A New Census of the Universe's Entropy
• Astrophysical and Cosmological Relevance of the High-Frequency Features in the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background
• Primordial black holes versus their impersonators at gravitational wave observatories
• Across the Universe: GW231123 as a magnified and diffracted black hole merger