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DC Field | Value | Language |
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dc.contributor.author | Dukstra, Mark | - |
dc.contributor.author | Sethi, S.K. | - |
dc.contributor.author | Loeb, Abraham | - |
dc.date.accessioned | 2016-10-17T12:00:55Z | - |
dc.date.available | 2016-10-17T12:00:55Z | - |
dc.date.issued | 2016-03-20 | - |
dc.identifier.citation | Astrophysical Journal, 2016, Vol. 820, p10 | en_US |
dc.identifier.issn | 0004-637X | - |
dc.identifier.issn | 1538-4357-(Online) | - |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/2289/6445 | - |
dc.description | Restricted Access. An open-access version is available at arXiv.org (one of the alternative locations) | en_US |
dc.description.abstract | The direct collapse black hole (DCBH) scenario describes the isothermal collapse of a pristine gas cloud directly into a massive, ${M}_{\mathrm{BH}}\;=$ 104–106${M}_{\odot }$ black hole. In this paper we show that large H i column densities of primordial gas at $T\sim {10}^{4}$ K with low molecular abundance—which represent key aspects of the DCBH scenario—provide optimal conditions for the pumping of the 2p-level of atomic hydrogen by trapped Lyα photons. This Lyα pumping mechanism gives rise to an inverted level population of the $2{s}_{1/2}-2{p}_{3/2}$ transition, and therefore also gives rise to stimulated fine structure emission at $\lambda =3.04\;\mathrm{cm}$ (rest-frame). We show that simplified models of the DCBH scenario amplify the CMB by up to a factor of $\sim {10}^{5}$, above which the maser saturates. Hyperfine splitting of the 3 cm transition gives rise to a characteristic broad (FWHM ~ tens of MHz in the observers frame) asymmetric line profile. This signal subtends an angular scale of ~1–10 mas, which translates to a flux of ~0.3–3 μJy, which is detectable with ultra-deep surveys being planned with SKA1-MID. While challenging, as the signal is visible for a fraction of the collapse time of the cloud, the matching required physical conditions imply that a detection of the redshifted 3-cm emission line could provide direct evidence for the DCBH scenario. | en_US |
dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
dc.publisher | IOP Sciences for The American Astronomical Society | en_US |
dc.relation.uri | http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016ApJ...820...10D | en_US |
dc.relation.uri | http://arxiv.org/abs/1601.04712 | en_US |
dc.relation.uri | http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/820/1/10 | en_US |
dc.rights | 2016, The American Astronomical Society. | en_US |
dc.title | 3-cm Fine structure masers: a unique signature of supermassive black hole formation via direct collapse in the early universe | en_US |
dc.type | Article | en_US |
Appears in Collections: | Research Papers (A&A) |
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2016_AstroPhyJournal_820_10.pdf Restricted Access | Restricted Access | 880.89 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open Request a copy |
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