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X-ray View of Little Red Dots: Do They Host Supermassive Black Holes?

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arxiv 2404.19010 v2 pith:YWJGRPOT submitted 2024-04-29 astro-ph.GA astro-ph.HE

classification astro-ph.GAastro-ph.HE
keywords masslrdsemissionalphaestimatesgalaxieshostjwst
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
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abstract

The discovery of Little Red Dots (LRDs) -- a population of compact, high-redshift, dust-reddened galaxies -- is one of the most surprising results from JWST. However, the nature of LRDs is still debated: does the near-infrared emission originate from accreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs), or intense star formation? In this work, we utilize ultra-deep Chandra observations and study LRDs residing behind the lensing galaxy cluster, Abell~2744. We probe the X-ray emission from individual galaxies but find that they remain undetected and provide SMBH mass upper limits of $\lesssim(1.5-16)\times10^{6}~\rm{M_{\odot}}$ assuming Eddington limited accretion. To increase the signal-to-noise ratios, we conduct a stacking analysis of the full sample with a total lensed exposure time of $\approx87$~Ms. We also bin the galaxies based on their stellar mass, lensing magnification, and detected broad-line H$\alpha$ emission. For the LRDs exhibiting broad-line H$\alpha$ emission, there is a hint of a stacked signal ($\sim2.6\sigma$), corresponding to a SMBH mass of $\sim3.2\times10^{6}~\rm{M_{\odot}}$. Assuming unobscured, Eddington-limited accretion, this BH mass is at least 1.5 orders of magnitude lower than that inferred from virial mass estimates using JWST spectra. Given galaxy-dominated stellar mass estimates, our results imply that LRDs do not host over-massive SMBHs and/or accrete at a few percent of their Eddington limit. However, alternative stellar mass estimates may still support that LRDs host over-massive BHs. The significant discrepancy between the JWST and Chandra data hints that the scaling relations used to infer the SMBH mass from the H$\alpha$ line and virial relations may not be applicable for high-redshift LRDs.

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Cited by 10 Pith papers

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

  1. Misaligned or chaotic? A strong break of axial symmetry in the local LRD J1025 revealed with VLT/FORS2 spectropolarimetry

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

    The local Little Red Dot J1025 shows a 48° polarisation-angle offset between continuum and broad H-alpha, requiring broken axial symmetry.

  2. BlackTHUNDER Reveals a Massive Filament around a Compact AGN at $z\simeq5.23$

    astro-ph.GA 2026-07 conditional novelty 6.5 of 10

    GN-77652, a compact broad-line AGN at z=5.229, lies beside a 12 kpc multi-source filament at the same redshift whose coalescence will erase the compact AGN appearance within ~150–440 Myr.

  3. AGN radiative feedback as the main regulator of [O III] outflow activity and obscuration in X-ray AGN

    astro-ph.GA 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 6.5 of 10

    Higher Eddington ratio AGN exhibit increased [O III] outflow incidence and reduced obscuration, supporting radiative feedback as the regulator.

  4. ATLAS. II. Extremely High Incidence of Balmer Line Absorption with Predominant Blueshifts in LRDs: Statistical Insights through Comparison with Type 1 AGNs

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

    Balmer-line absorption occurs in ~35% (14/40) of JWST little-red-dot AGNs, roughly 850x the rate in SDSS type-1 AGNs, with mostly slow blueshifted absorber velocities.

  5. An (in)complete NIRSpec census of Balmer absorption in Type 1 AGN -- radiation-driven outflows in little red dots, quasars and variable stars

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

    About 44% of little red dots have hydrogen-alpha absorption from outflowing gas, implying radiatively driven outflows rather than static atmospheres.

  6. Reduced Incidence of Little Red Dots at z < 3 from Number Density and Halo Mass Evolution

    astro-ph.GA 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 6.0 of 10

    LRDs transition from underdense low-halo-mass environments at z>4 to typical galaxy conditions by z~3.5, with halo growth leading to larger sizes and SED changes that explain their disappearance at lower redshifts.

  7. Ultrahigh-energy cosmogenic neutrino emissions in the high-redshift universe

    astro-ph.HE 2026-04 unverdicted novelty 6.0 of 10

    If Little Red Dots accelerate protons to ~10 EeV, their interactions with the high-redshift CMB produce a ~50 PeV cosmogenic neutrino bump consistent with IceCube.

  8. The Two Orbital, Interacting Hatano-Nelson Model

    cond-mat.str-el 2026-04 unverdicted novelty 6.0 of 10

    Phase diagrams for a purely real spectrum are obtained in the two-particle sector of a two-chain interacting Hatano–Nelson–Hubbard model, with winding-number and Lindblad checks of boundary and open-system behavior.

  9. 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...

  10. Little Red Dots from Small-Scale Primordial Black Hole Clustering

    astro-ph.CO 2025-07 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    Densely clustered 30-solar-mass primordial black holes can sequentially merge into ~10^6 solar-mass seeds by redshift 6, possibly explaining JWST little red dots, with high spin from tidal torques and a two-peak gravi...

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