How do supermassive black holes end up at the center of each galaxy? Not too long ago, it wasn’t that difficult to explain. That’s where the concentration of matter is highest, and the black hole has been feeding on it for billions of years. But as we delve deeper into the history of the universe, more and more supermassive black holes are discovered, shortening the timeline for their formation. Rather than leisurely eating nearby matter, these black holes greedily devour nearby matter.
With the advent of the Webb Space Telescope, this problem reached its theoretical limits. Matter falling into a black hole produces radiation, and faster supply means more radiation is produced. That radiation could then drive away nearby matter, clogging up the black hole’s food supply. This sets a limit on how fast the black hole can grow unless matter is somehow fed directly into the black hole. Webb was used to identify early supermassive black holes that would have been pushing the limits throughout their existence.
But Webb may have just found a solution to his dilemma as well. It discovered a black hole that appears to have continued to provide 40 times more energy than the theoretical limit for millions of years, allowing it to grow fast enough to build a supermassive black hole. I did.
Setting limits
Material that falls into a black hole typically collects in what is called an accretion disk, orbits the object, and is heated by collisions with the rest of the disk, losing energy in the form of radiation. Eventually, when enough energy is lost, matter falls into a black hole. The more matter there is, the brighter the accretion disk becomes, and the more matter is expelled before it falls. The point at which radiation pressure dispels as much matter as a black hole pulls in is called the Eddington limit. The larger the black hole, the higher this limit.
