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Peer-reviewedCC BYThe Astrophysical Journal

A GLIMPSE of Intermediate Mass Black Holes in the Epoch of Reionization: Witnessing the Descendants of Direct Collapse?

  • Qinyue Fei1
  • Seiji Fujimoto2,1
  • Rohan P. Naidu3
  • John Chisholm4
  • Hakim Atek5,6
  • Gabriel Brammer7
  • Yoshihisa Asada2,1,8
  • Danielle A. Berg4
  • Volker Bromm4
  • Lukas J. Furtak9
  • Jenny E. Greene10
  • Tiger Yu-Yang Hsiao4
10 more authors
  • Junehyoung Jeon4
  • Vasily Kokorev4
  • Jorryt Matthee11
  • Priyamvada Natarajan12,13
  • Richard Pan14
  • Johan Richard15,16
  • Alberto Saldana-Lopez17
  • D. Schaerer18,19,20
  • Marta Volonteri5,6
  • Adi Zitrin9
20 affiliations
  1. 1University of Toronto
  2. 2Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics
  3. 3MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
  4. 4The University of Texas at Austin
  5. 5Sorbonne Université
  6. 6IAP - Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (98bis, bd Arago - 75014 Paris France - France)
  7. 7University of Copenhagen
  8. 8Waseda University
  9. 9Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
  10. 10Princeton University
  11. 11Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)
  12. 12Harvard University
  13. 13Yale University
  14. 14Tufts University
  15. 15Univ Lyon
  16. 16CRAL - Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon (9 Avenue Charles André 69561 ST GENIS LAVAL CEDEX - France)
  17. 17Stockholm University
  18. 18CNRS
  19. 19Université de Genève
  20. 20IRAP - Institut de recherche en astrophysique et planétologie (9 avenue Colonel Roche 31028 Toulouse - France)
Open at sourceDOICite

Abstract

JWST has revealed an abundance of supermassive black holes (BHs) in the early Universe, and yet the lowest mass seed BHs that gave rise to these populations remain elusive. Here, we present a systematic search for broad-line active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in some of the faintest high- z galaxies surveyed yet by combining ultra-deep JWST/NIRSpec G395M spectroscopy with the strong lensing aid in AS1063. By employing the profile of the [O iii ] λ 5007 emission lines as a template for narrow-line components and carefully cross-validating with mock observations, we identify a sample of 10 broad-line AGNs at 4.5 < z < 7.0 (eight secure, two tentative). The inferred BH masses from the broad H α line explore the intermediate BH mass regime down to ∼10 5.5 M ⊙ . The stellar mass ( M * ) is estimated with a galaxy+AGN composite model, and we find the BH to stellar mass ratio spans down to M BH / M * ≲ 0.1%, unveiling populations on the empirical M BH – M * relation observed in the local Universe. We also derive the BH mass function and investigate its low-mass end at this epoch. While we confirm the agreement of our results with previous studies at M BH ≳ 10 6.5 M ⊙ , we find the mass range of ∼10 5.5 M ⊙ features an enhanced abundance with respect to the extrapolated best-fit Schechter function. Comparison with theoretical models suggests that a possible origin for this enhanced abundance is the direct-collapse BH formation, supporting the scenario that the direct collapse of massive gas clouds is a significant pathway for the earliest supermassive BHs.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{fei2026glimpse,
  title = {{A GLIMPSE of Intermediate Mass Black Holes in the Epoch of Reionization: Witnessing the Descendants of Direct Collapse?}},
  author = {Qinyue Fei and Seiji Fujimoto and Rohan P. Naidu and John Chisholm and Hakim Atek and Gabriel Brammer and Yoshihisa Asada and Danielle A. Berg and Volker Bromm and Lukas J. Furtak and Jenny E. Greene and Tiger Yu-Yang Hsiao and Junehyoung Jeon and Vasily Kokorev and Jorryt Matthee and Priyamvada Natarajan and Richard Pan and Johan Richard and Alberto Saldana-Lopez and D. Schaerer and Marta Volonteri and Adi Zitrin},
  journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
  year = {2026},
  month = may,
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ae6248},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae6248},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - A GLIMPSE of Intermediate Mass Black Holes in the Epoch of Reionization: Witnessing the Descendants of Direct Collapse?
AU  - Qinyue Fei
AU  - Seiji Fujimoto
AU  - Rohan P. Naidu
AU  - John Chisholm
AU  - Hakim Atek
AU  - Gabriel Brammer
AU  - Yoshihisa Asada
AU  - Danielle A. Berg
AU  - Volker Bromm
AU  - Lukas J. Furtak
AU  - Jenny E. Greene
AU  - Tiger Yu-Yang Hsiao
AU  - Junehyoung Jeon
AU  - Vasily Kokorev
AU  - Jorryt Matthee
AU  - Priyamvada Natarajan
AU  - Richard Pan
AU  - Johan Richard
AU  - Alberto Saldana-Lopez
AU  - D. Schaerer
AU  - Marta Volonteri
AU  - Adi Zitrin
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/28
JO  - The Astrophysical Journal
DO  - 10.3847/1538-4357/ae6248
UR  - https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae6248
AB  - JWST has revealed an abundance of supermassive black holes (BHs) in the early Universe, and yet the lowest mass seed BHs that gave rise to these populations remain elusive. Here, we present a systematic search for broad-line active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in some of the faintest high- z galaxies surveyed yet by combining ultra-deep JWST/NIRSpec G395M spectroscopy with the strong lensing aid in AS1063. By employing the profile of the [O iii ] λ 5007 emission lines as a template for narrow-line components and carefully cross-validating with mock observations, we identify a sample of 10 broad-line AGNs at 4.5 < z < 7.0 (eight secure, two tentative). The inferred BH masses from the broad H α line explore the intermediate BH mass regime down to ∼10 5.5 M ⊙ . The stellar mass ( M * ) is estimated with a galaxy+AGN composite model, and we find the BH to stellar mass ratio spans down to M BH / M * ≲ 0.1%, unveiling populations on the empirical M BH – M * relation observed in the local Universe. We also derive the BH mass function and investigate its low-mass end at this epoch. While we confirm the agreement of our results with previous studies at M BH ≳ 10 6.5 M ⊙ , we find the mass range of ∼10 5.5 M ⊙ features an enhanced abundance with respect to the extrapolated best-fit Schechter function. Comparison with theoretical models suggests that a possible origin for this enhanced abundance is the direct-collapse BH formation, supporting the scenario that the direct collapse of massive gas clouds is a significant pathway for the earliest supermassive BHs.
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
ER  -