Consistency of JWST Black Hole Observations with NANOGrav Gravitational Wave Measurements

Abstract

JWST observations have opened a new chapter in studies of supermassive black holes (SMBHs), stimulating discussion of two puzzles: the abundance of SMBHs in the early Universe and the fraction of dual AGNs. In this paper we argue that the answers to these puzzles may be linked to an interpretation of the data on the nHz gravitational wave (GWs) discovered by NANOGrav and other Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs) in terms of SMBH binaries losing energy by interactions with their environments as well as by GW emission. According to this interpretation, the SMBHs in low-$z$ AGNs are the tip of the iceberg of the local SMBH population, which are mainly in inactive galaxies. This interpretation would favour the observability of GW signals from BH binaries in LISA and deciHz GW detectors.

Discussion of the little red dots added

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• Statistics of the supermassive black hole gravitational wave background anisotropy
• Reconciling PTA and JWST and preparing for LISA with POMPOCO: a Parametrisation Of the Massive black hole POpulation for Comparison to Observations
• Implications of pulsar timing arrays for Gauss-Bonnet Inflation
• Dark energy, spatial curvature, and star formation efficiency from JWST photometric and spectroscopic high-redshift galaxies
• Massive black holes and their galaxies
• A Population Study for Searching Supermassive Binary Black Holes in Active Galactic Nuclei: Continuum Spectral Features and Periodic Variabilities