Direct formation of massive black holes via dynamical collapse in metal-enriched merging galaxies at $z\sim 10$: fully cosmological simulations

Abstract

We present the results of the first fully cosmological hydrodynamical simulations studying the merger-driven model for massive black hole (BH) seed formation via direct collapse. Using the zoom-in technique as well as particle splitting, we achieve a final spatial resolution of $2$ pc. We show that the major merger of two massive galaxies at redshift $z\sim 8$ results in the formation of a nuclear supermassive disk (SMD) of only $4$ pc in radius, owing to a prodigious gas inflow sustained at $100$-$1000$ $M_{\odot }$ yr${}^{-1}$. The core of the merger remnant is metal-rich, well above solar abundance, and the SMD reaches a gaseous mass of $3\times 10^8$ $M_{\odot }$ in less than a million years after the merger, despite a concurrent prominent nuclear starburst. Dynamical heating as gas falls into the deepest part of the potential well, and heating and stirring by supernova blastwaves, generate a turbulent multi-phase interstellar medium, with a gas velocity dispersion exceeding 100 km s${}^{-1}$. As a result, only moderate fragmentation occurs in the inner $10$-$20$ pc despite the temperature falls below $1000$ K. The SMD is Jeans-unstable as well as bar-unstable and will collapse further adiabatically, becoming warm and ionized. We show that the SMD, following inevitable contraction, will become general relativistic unstable and directly form a supermassive BH of mass in the range $10^6$-$10^8$ $M_{\odot }$, essentially skipping the stage of BH seed formation. These results confirm that mergers between the most massive galaxies at $z\sim 8$-$10$ can naturally explain the rapid emergence of bright high-redshift quasars.

14 pages, 8 figures, submitted to ApJ

Cited by in corpus (1)

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