---
_id: '17778'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: The earliest generation of stars and black holes must have established an
    early ‘Lyman–Werner’ background (LWB) at high redshift, prior to the epoch of
    reionization. Because of the long mean free path of photons with energies hν <
    13.6 eV, the LWB was nearly uniform. However, some variation in the LWB is expected
    due to the discrete nature of the sources, and their highly clustered spatial
    distribution. In this paper, we compute the probability distribution function
    (PDF) of the LW flux that irradiates dark matter (DM) haloes collapsing at high
    redshift (z≈ 10). Our model accounts for (i) the clustering of DM haloes, (ii)
    Poisson fluctuations in the number of corresponding star-forming galaxies and
    (iii) scatter in the LW luminosity produced by haloes of a given mass (calibrated
    using local observations). We find that >99 per cent of the DM haloes are illuminated
    by an LW flux within a factor of 2 of the global mean value. However, a small
    fraction, ∼10^−8 to 10^−6, of DM haloes with virial temperatures Tvir≳ 10^4 K
    have a close luminous neighbour within ≲10 kpc, and are exposed to an LW flux
    exceeding the global mean by a factor of >20, or to J21,LW > 10^3 (in units of
    10^−21 erg s^−1 Hz^−1 sr^−1 cm^−2). This large LW flux can photodissociate H2
    molecules in the gas collapsing due to atomic cooling in these haloes, and prevent
    its further cooling and fragmentation. Such close halo pairs therefore provide
    possible sites in which primordial gas clouds collapse directly into massive black
    holes (MBH≈ 10^4−6M⊙), and subsequently grow into supermassive (MBH≳ 10^9M⊙) black
    holes by z≈ 6.
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Mark
  full_name: Dijkstra, Mark
  last_name: Dijkstra
- first_name: Zoltán
  full_name: Haiman, Zoltán
  id: 7c006e8c-cc0d-11ee-8322-cb904ef76f36
  last_name: Haiman
- first_name: Andrei
  full_name: Mesinger, Andrei
  last_name: Mesinger
- first_name: J. Stuart B.
  full_name: Wyithe, J. Stuart B.
  last_name: Wyithe
citation:
  ama: 'Dijkstra M, Haiman Z, Mesinger A, Wyithe JSB. Fluctuations in the high-redshift
    Lyman-Werner background: Close halo pairs as the origin of supermassive black
    holes. <i>Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</i>. 2008;391(4):1961-1972.
    doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.14031.x">10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.14031.x</a>'
  apa: 'Dijkstra, M., Haiman, Z., Mesinger, A., &#38; Wyithe, J. S. B. (2008). Fluctuations
    in the high-redshift Lyman-Werner background: Close halo pairs as the origin of
    supermassive black holes. <i>Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</i>.
    Oxford University Press. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.14031.x">https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.14031.x</a>'
  chicago: 'Dijkstra, Mark, Zoltán Haiman, Andrei Mesinger, and J. Stuart B. Wyithe.
    “Fluctuations in the High-Redshift Lyman-Werner Background: Close Halo Pairs as
    the Origin of Supermassive Black Holes.” <i>Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
    Society</i>. Oxford University Press, 2008. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.14031.x">https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.14031.x</a>.'
  ieee: 'M. Dijkstra, Z. Haiman, A. Mesinger, and J. S. B. Wyithe, “Fluctuations in
    the high-redshift Lyman-Werner background: Close halo pairs as the origin of supermassive
    black holes,” <i>Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</i>, vol. 391,
    no. 4. Oxford University Press, pp. 1961–1972, 2008.'
  ista: 'Dijkstra M, Haiman Z, Mesinger A, Wyithe JSB. 2008. Fluctuations in the high-redshift
    Lyman-Werner background: Close halo pairs as the origin of supermassive black
    holes. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 391(4), 1961–1972.'
  mla: 'Dijkstra, Mark, et al. “Fluctuations in the High-Redshift Lyman-Werner Background:
    Close Halo Pairs as the Origin of Supermassive Black Holes.” <i>Monthly Notices
    of the Royal Astronomical Society</i>, vol. 391, no. 4, Oxford University Press,
    2008, pp. 1961–72, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.14031.x">10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.14031.x</a>.'
  short: M. Dijkstra, Z. Haiman, A. Mesinger, J.S.B. Wyithe, Monthly Notices of the
    Royal Astronomical Society 391 (2008) 1961–1972.
date_created: 2024-09-06T10:13:39Z
date_published: 2008-12-11T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2024-09-30T11:57:59Z
day: '11'
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.14031.x
extern: '1'
fulldoi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.14031.x
intvolume: '       391'
issue: '4'
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.14031.x
month: '12'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 1961-1972
publication: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
publication_identifier:
  issn:
  - 0035-8711
  - 1365-2966
publication_status: published
publisher: Oxford University Press
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: 'Fluctuations in the high-redshift Lyman-Werner background: Close halo pairs
  as the origin of supermassive black holes'
type: journal_article
user_id: 317138e5-6ab7-11ef-aa6d-ffef3953e345
volume: 391
year: '2008'
...