Massive black hole formation in Population III star clusters

¹ Department of Physics, Gustaf Hällströmin katu 2, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
² Universität Heidelberg, Zentrum für Astronomie, Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Albert-Ueberle-Str. 2, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
³ Physics Department, College of Science, United Arab Emirates University, PO Box 15551, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates
⁴ Dipartimento di Fisica, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
⁵ Departamento de Astronomia, Facultad Ciencias Fisicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Concepciôn, Av. Esteban Iturra s/n, Concepción, Chile

^★ Corresponding authors: bastian.reinoso@helsinki.fi; latifne@gmail.com; dominik.schleicher@uniroma1.it

Received: 26 March 2025
Accepted: 18 June 2025

Abstract

Context. The James Webb Space Telescope has revealed a population of active galactic nuclei that challenge existing black hole (BH) formation models. These newly observed BHs seem over-massive compared to the host galaxies and have an unexpectedly high abundance. Their exact origin remains elusive.

Aims. The primary goal of this work is to investigate the formation of massive BH seeds in dense Population III (Pop III) star clusters.

Methods. We used a cosmological simulation of Pop III cluster formation and present models for the assembly and subsequent evolution of these clusters. The models account for background gas potential, stellar collisions and associated mass loss, gas accretion, stellar growth, their initial mass function, and subsequent star formation. We conducted N-body simulations of these models over a span of 2 million years.

Results. Our results show that BHs of >400 M_⊙ are formed in all cases, reaching up to ~5000 M_⊙ under optimistic yet reasonable conditions, and potentially exceeding 10⁴ M_⊙ provided that high accretion rates onto the stars of 10⁻³ M_⊙ yr⁻¹ can be sustained.

Conclusions. We conclude that massive BHs can be formed in Pop III stellar clusters and are likely to remain within their host clusters. These BHs may experience further growth as they sink into the galaxy’s potential well. This formation channel should be given further consideration in models of galaxy formation and BH demographics.