Speaker
Description
The origin of the supermassive black holes at the centres of most galaxies has
been an open problem for decades, a mystery made even deeper by the discovery
that many were already in place at the epoch of reionization. The picture has
become increasingly intriguing with the identification of an even larger
population of accreting black holes by JWST in the early universe, which exhibit properties markedly different from AGN at later epochs or from more luminous quasars. These discoveries have challenged standard scenarios for the formation and growth of black holes in the early universe and have motivated the development of new paradigms.
In this review, I will summarize the observational properties of the diverse
population of black holes discovered in the early universe and discuss some of the scenarios proposed to explain their formation and growth. I will also
highlight the key open questions in this field and outline how they may be
addressed by future studies and upcoming facilities.