Off-center black hole seed formation? Implications for high and low redshift massive black holes

Abstract

Recent studies show that light seeds of black holes, which grow into massive black holes (MBHs) over time, often struggle to remain at the centers of their birthplaces in high-redshift galaxies, limiting their ability to accrete gas and merge with other black holes. In this work, we investigate how off-center formation of the first seeds affects the evolution of the MBH and massive black hole binary (MBHB) populations over cosmic history. To this end, we use the $\texttt{L-Galaxies}{\it BH}$ semi-analytical model, which includes multiple seed formation mechanisms, with light Population III remnants being the most significant contributors. To incorporate off-center formation, we modify the model to track the initial seed location, the sinking timescales toward the galactic center, and any growth during this phase. The results indicate that seed formation occurring away from the galactic center has a negligible impact on the MBH population at $z<1$, but causes significant differences at higher redshifts. Particularly, the abundance of $10^5 M_{\odot}$ MBHs at $z>4$ can be up to 2-10 times smaller compared to a nuclear seed formation model. Quasar luminosity functions with $\rm L_{bol}>10^{44} \rm erg/s$ are similarly affected, although they still align with observational constraints. The off-centre formation also alters the galaxy-MBH mass relation. At $z>5$, the amplitude of the relation can be up to 2 dex smaller than in nuclear seed models. These differences fade by $z \sim 2$ for galaxies $>10^{11} M_{\odot}$, and by $z=0$ for smaller galaxies. Notably, the overmassive MBH population recently unveiled by JWST is still present in the model, suggesting they can form independently of the seed dynamics. Finally, the merging rate of MBHs within LISA sensitivity band is strongly impacted. Specifically, there is a suppression of events at high-$z$ and an enhancement at low-$z$.