Small black holes grew rapidly into supermassive ones in early universe, challenging prior theories.

Researchers at Maynooth University have found that small black holes, initially only 10 to a few hundred times the sun’s mass, could rapidly grow into supermassive black holes in the early universe under chaotic, gas-rich conditions. Their simulations show these "light seed" black holes experienced brief periods of super Eddington accretion—consuming matter at extreme rates despite radiation that should have halted growth—challenging earlier beliefs that only massive "heavy seed" black holes could evolve into the giants seen by the James Webb Space Telescope. The findings offer a new explanation for the origins of early supermassive black holes and may help the upcoming LISA mission detect gravitational waves from their mergers.