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Mildly Super-Eddington Accretion Onto Slowly-Spinning Black Holes Explains the X-Ray Weakness of the Little Red Dots

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arxiv 2407.15915 v2 pith:2LLNKU3P submitted 2024-07-22 astro-ph.HE astro-ph.COastro-ph.GA

classification astro-ph.HEastro-ph.COastro-ph.GA
keywords x-raysuper-eddingtonlrdssedsmildlypopulationratessmbhs
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
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abstract

JWST has revealed a population of low-luminosity AGN at $z>4$ in compact, red hosts (the "Little Red Dots", or LRDs), which are largely undetected in X-rays. We investigate this phenomenon using GRRMHD simulations of super-Eddington accretion onto a SMBH with $M_\bullet=10^7 \,\rm M_\odot$ at $z\sim6$, representing the median population; the SEDs that we obtain are intrinsically X-ray weak. The highest levels of X-ray weakness occur in SMBHs accreting at mildly super-Eddington rates ($1.4<f_{\rm Edd}<4$) with zero spin, viewed at angles $>30^\circ$ from the pole. X-ray bolometric corrections in the observed $2-10$ keV band reach $\sim10^4$ at $z=6$, $\sim5$ times higher than the highest constraint from X-ray stacking. Most SEDs are extraordinarily steep and soft in the X-rays (median photon index $\Gamma=3.1$, mode of $\Gamma=4.4$). SEDs strong in the X-rays have harder spectra with a high-energy bump when viewed near the hot ($>10^8$ K) and highly-relativistic jet, whereas X-ray weak SEDs lack this feature. Viewing a SMBH within $10^\circ$ of its pole, where beaming enhances the X-ray emission, has a $\sim1.5\%$ probability, matching the LRD X-ray detection rate. Next-generation observatories like AXIS will detect X-ray weak LRDs at $z\sim6$ from any viewing angle. Although many SMBHs in the LRDs are already estimated to accrete at super-Eddington rates, our model explains $50\%$ of their population by requiring that their masses are overestimated by a mere factor of $\sim3$. In summary, we suggest that LRDs host slowly spinning SMBHs accreting at mildly super-Eddington rates, with large covering factors and broad emission lines enhanced by strong winds, providing a self-consistent explanation for their X-ray weakness and complementing other models.

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Cited by 4 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. Two Peas in a Pod: The First Confirmed Dual Active Galactic Nucleus within a Green Pea Galaxy System

    astro-ph.GA 2026-07 conditional novelty 7.0 of 10

    A compact Green Pea galaxy system hosts two resolved, simultaneously accreting supermassive black holes — the first confirmed dual AGN in such a galaxy.

  2. Outflows in super-Eddington quasars drive clumpy circumgalactic medium and extended H$\alpha$ nebulae at $z \gtrsim 6$

    astro-ph.GA 2026-07 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    In z≈6 quasar simulations, super-Eddington black-hole growth clears escape channels, ejects cold clumps that raise neutral-hydrogen covering, and powers extended Hα nebulae that shrink when the quasar is obscured.

  3. Discovery of Multiply Ionized Iron Emission Powered by an Active Galactic Nucleus in a z~7 Little Red Dot

    astro-ph.GA 2025-09 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    The z=6.68 Little Red Dot THRILS 46403 shows a 4.5 sigma [FeVII] line, the first robust coronal-line detection among z>5 LRDs, plus narrow Balmer absorption, supporting an AGN with direct sightlines to gas at or beyon...

  4. MEGA: Spectrophotometric SED Fitting of Little Red Dots Detected in JWST MIRI

    astro-ph.GA 2025-08 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    Standard AGN and star-forming templates cannot fully reproduce the SEDs of eight MIRI-detected little red dots; dense-gas models plus extra hot dust partly work but fail on UV and narrow emission lines.

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