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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

How to raise a supermassive black hole: interpreting early JWST AGN with the AESOPICA simulations

  • Sophie Koudmani1,2
  • Jan Scholtz2,3
  • Anthony J Taylor4,5
  • Ignas Juodžbalis2,3
  • Debora Sijacki2,6
  • Rachel S Somerville7
  • Roberto Maiolino2,3,8
  • Emma Curtis-Lake1
  • Steven L Finkelstein4,5
  • Martin A Bourne1,2
  • Francesco D’Eugenio2,3
  • Sophia Geris2,3
2 more authors
  • Lucy R Ivey2,3
  • Hannah Übler9
9 affiliations
  1. 1University of Hertfordshire Centre for Astrophysics Research, Department of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics, , College Lane, Hatfield, AL10 9AB ,
  2. 2Kavli Institute for Cosmology, Cambridge, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA ,
  3. 3Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE ,
  4. 4The University of Texas at Austin Department of Astronomy, , Austin, TX ,
  5. 5Cosmic Frontier Center, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX ,
  6. 6Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge , Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA ,
  7. 7Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010 ,
  8. 8University College London Department of Physics and Astronomy, , Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT ,
  9. 9Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik , Gießenbachstraße 1, 85748 Garching ,
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Abstract

The active galactic nuclei (AGN) uncovered by JWST in the early Universe are highly abundant and seemingly overmassive with respect to local scaling relations, challenging standard models of black hole formation and growth. Yet it remains unclear whether they trace an efficient early growth channel, represent the observable tail of a broader population, or reflect systematic uncertainties in mass estimates. We introduce the aesopica project, a suite of twelve mid-volume (L = 60 cMpc) cosmological simulations based on the fable galaxy formation model, varying the black hole seed mass across the theoretical formation channels (Mseed = 102–105 M⊙), the accretion efficiency, including super-Eddington bursts, and the supernova feedback strength. We forward-model observational selection with balmersopica, a mock JWST broad-line survey pipeline that assesses the detectability of each simulated AGN for a given grating and exposure time. We find that the bulk of the JWST AGN population can be assembled from any seed mass provided the accretion efficiency is high, although light seeds require the most favourable accretion conditions explored. Applying broad-line selection naturally recovers the apparently overmassive population, with the detected AGN lying furthest above the intrinsic MBH–Mstellar relation for inefficient accretion models. The selected AGN lie on the local, weakly evolving MBH–σstellar relation, supporting a scenario where black holes assemble before the stellar component is fully established. Since efficient accretion rapidly erases the imprint of the initial seed mass, the low-mass end of the black hole mass function and host gas-phase metallicities offer the most promising discriminants between seeding channels.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{koudmani2026raise,
  title = {{How to raise a supermassive black hole: interpreting early JWST AGN with the AESOPICA simulations}},
  author = {Sophie Koudmani and Jan Scholtz and Anthony J Taylor and Ignas Juodžbalis and Debora Sijacki and Rachel S Somerville and Roberto Maiolino and Emma Curtis-Lake and Steven L Finkelstein and Martin A Bourne and Francesco D’Eugenio and Sophia Geris and Lucy R Ivey and Hannah Übler},
  journal = {Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.1093/mnras/stag2090},
  url = {https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag2090/9011267},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - How to raise a supermassive black hole: interpreting early JWST AGN with the AESOPICA simulations
AU  - Sophie Koudmani
AU  - Jan Scholtz
AU  - Anthony J Taylor
AU  - Ignas Juodžbalis
AU  - Debora Sijacki
AU  - Rachel S Somerville
AU  - Roberto Maiolino
AU  - Emma Curtis-Lake
AU  - Steven L Finkelstein
AU  - Martin A Bourne
AU  - Francesco D’Eugenio
AU  - Sophia Geris
AU  - Lucy R Ivey
AU  - Hannah Übler
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/03
JO  - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
DO  - 10.1093/mnras/stag2090
UR  - https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag2090/9011267
AB  - The active galactic nuclei (AGN) uncovered by JWST in the early Universe are highly abundant and seemingly overmassive with respect to local scaling relations, challenging standard models of black hole formation and growth. Yet it remains unclear whether they trace an efficient early growth channel, represent the observable tail of a broader population, or reflect systematic uncertainties in mass estimates. We introduce the aesopica project, a suite of twelve mid-volume (L = 60 cMpc) cosmological simulations based on the fable galaxy formation model, varying the black hole seed mass across the theoretical formation channels (Mseed = 102–105 M⊙), the accretion efficiency, including super-Eddington bursts, and the supernova feedback strength. We forward-model observational selection with balmersopica, a mock JWST broad-line survey pipeline that assesses the detectability of each simulated AGN for a given grating and exposure time. We find that the bulk of the JWST AGN population can be assembled from any seed mass provided the accretion efficiency is high, although light seeds require the most favourable accretion conditions explored. Applying broad-line selection naturally recovers the apparently overmassive population, with the detected AGN lying furthest above the intrinsic MBH–Mstellar relation for inefficient accretion models. The selected AGN lie on the local, weakly evolving MBH–σstellar relation, supporting a scenario where black holes assemble before the stellar component is fully established. Since efficient accretion rapidly erases the imprint of the initial seed mass, the low-mass end of the black hole mass function and host gas-phase metallicities offer the most promising discriminants between seeding channels.
SN  - 0035-8711
SN  - 1365-2966
ER  -