{
  "abstract": "We test whether \"little red dots'' (LRDs) are the dust-reddened, high-inclination counterparts of bluer compact broad-line active galactic nuclei, here referred to as \"little blue dots'' (LBDs), by modeling their relative number densities and luminosities. Using the observed UV luminosity function (LF) of broad-line active galactic nuclei (BLAGNs) at z>4 as the parent distribution, we forward-model the effects of accretion rate, anisotropic emission, orientation, and dust obscuration within our super-Eddington unification framework. We show that a model with a geometrically thick accretion flow and a dusty circumnuclear cloud population reproduces the LRD LF over the luminosity range currently constrained by JWST. The predicted LRD/BLAGN fraction is strongly luminosity dependent, rising from ~3% at M_{1500}=-21 mag to a peak value of ~20% near M_{1500}=-19. The model also predicts a larger apparent LRD fraction at rest-frame optical wavelengths, reaching 27% at M_{4500}=-20 mag and 39% at M_{6500}=-21. The fiducial solution adopts a baseline host extinction A_V^{host}=0.5 mag, a characteristic per-cloud nuclear extinction < A_V^c >=3.0 mag, and a gray R_V=5.5 attenuation curve, and yields a mean dust covering factor < C_{dust} > ~0.23. This value is conditional on the adopted dust prescription, since lower per-cloud extinction can be compensated by a larger covering factor. These results may support an orientation-based unification of little dots and identify the LRD LF as a key demographic test of rapid accretion onto infant black holes at cosmic dawn. Within this same framework, UV-selected LRDs are predicted to host systematically more massive black holes than unobscured LBDs, not because they represent a distinct parent population, but because dust attenuation preferentially removes lower-mass obscured systems from the observed UV sample.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2605.05074",
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Piero Madau"
    },
    {
      "name": "Roberto Maiolino"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6m1cd1ztyyn6f.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2605.05074",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "6m1cd1ztyyn6f",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.05074",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.GA"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.HE"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2605.05074",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-08",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6m1cd1ztyyn6f.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:52Z",
      "native_id": "2605.05074",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.05074"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.GA",
      "subfield": "galaxies"
    },
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.HE",
      "subfield": "high-energy-astrophysics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Little red dots as obscured little blue dots: relative abundances, luminosities, and black-hole masses",
  "title_text": "Little red dots as obscured little blue dots: relative abundances, luminosities, and black-hole masses",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:52Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6m1cd1ztyyn6f",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}