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SUMMARY:The Origin of Supermassive Black Holes from Pop III.1 Seeds and Im
 plications for Particle Physics and Cosmology - Jonathan C. Tan (Chalmers 
 / U. Virginia)
DTSTART:20260320T113000Z
DTEND:20260320T123000Z
UID:TALK241189@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Sandro Tacchella
DESCRIPTION:The origin of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) is a key open q
 uestion for contemporary astrophysics and cosmology. Here we discuss the p
 redictions of a model of SMBH formation from Pop III.1 protostars\, i.e.\,
  metal-free stars forming in locally isolated dark matter minihalos\, wher
 e dark matter annihilation has a chance to alter the structure of the star
  allowing growth to supermassive scales (Banik\, Tan & Monaco 2019\; Singh
 \, Monaco & Tan 2023\; Cammelli et al. 2025\; Nandal et al. 2025\; Sanati 
 et al. 2025a\,b\; for a review see Tan et al. 2024 and this project page: 
 http://cosmicorigins.space/smbh). The model predicts that all SMBHs form v
 ery early in the Universe (i.e.\, by z = 20) with a spatial distribution t
 hat is initially relatively unclustered. It also makes predictions for SMB
 H occupation fractions\, host galaxy properties\, frequency of binary SMBH
 s and the gravitational wave background. These predictions are compared to
  latest results from the Hubble Space Telescope\, James Webb Spact Telesco
 pe and pulsar timing array observations. Another key prediction of the mod
 el is an early phase of “flash” ionization of the universe at z~20\, w
 hich can help alleviate cosmological tensions (Hubble tension\, dynamical 
 dark energy\, negative neutrino masses) (Tan 2025\; Komatsu & Tan 2025). F
 inally\, since the Pop III.1 mechanism relies on the process of WIMP dark 
 matter self-annihilation\, there are implication for the nature of the dar
 k matter particle.
LOCATION:Ryle Seminar Room\, KICC + online
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