Formation channels of supermassive black hole seeds

Determine which formation channels produce supermassive black hole seeds in the early Universe, distinguishing among light (Population III remnants), intermediate (runaway stellar collisions in dense clusters), and heavy (direct gas collapse) seeds, and quantify their initial masses and formation environments.

Background

The paper surveys three commonly proposed channels for the origin of supermassive black hole (SMBH) seeds: light seeds from Population III stellar remnants, intermediate-mass seeds from runaway stellar collisions, and heavy seeds from direct gas collapse. Although the simulations here do not aim to solve this problem, the authors explicitly note that the origin channel remains an open question impacting early SMBH growth scenarios and initial conditions for cosmological models.

References

While the formation channel of SMBHs is an open question, it is not the focus of this work.

— Supermassive Black Hole Growth in Massive Galaxies at Cosmic Dawn  (2510.19822 - Sunseri et al., 22 Oct 2025) in Section 2.3, 'SMBH Formation and Growth'

However, it remains unclear whether such heavy seeds can form efficiently at Cosmic Dawn, since their formation mechanisms and conditions are still debated, whereas the formation of IMBHs with masses of $103$--$104\,M_\odot$ is considered more plausible.

— Rapid Growth of Intermediate-Mass Black Holes through Disk-induced Stellar DisruptionsRapid Growth of Intermediate-Mass Black Holes through Disk-induced Stellar Disruptions  (2609.03701 - Wang et al., 3 Sep 2026) in Section 1, Introduction