What question did this study set out to answer?

The research aims to explore how black holes grow through gas accretion in the early stages of stellar clusters.

February 17, 2026Open Access

Massive Black Hole Formation in Proto-Stellar Clusters via Early Gas Accretion

Key Points

The research aims to explore how black holes grow through gas accretion in the early stages of stellar clusters.
Developed a semi-analytic model for black hole mass growth.
Analyzed gas-rich stellar clusters during the first 10 million years post-stellar formation.
Incorporated observational data from James Webb Space Telescope.
Black hole masses increase significantly after the gas depletion process.
End masses are observed within the black hole mass gap.
Findings align with components of the gravitational-wave signal GW231123.

Abstract

In this paper, we review our semi-analytic model of stellar black hole (BH) mass growth via gas accretion in gas-rich stellar clusters during their birthstage within the first ∼10Myr after the first stellar formation event. Such proto-stellar clusters are massive and compact, with typical masses ∼106M⊙ and sizes ∼1pc, as suggested by recent James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations. We find that by the end of the gas depletion process, BH masses are shifted to values within and above the BH mass gap, well within the range of components of the recent gravitational-wave (GW) signal GW231123, and up to masses ∼103M⊙.

Massive Black Hole Formation in Proto-Stellar Clusters via Early Gas Accretion

Key Points

Abstract

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