Tip of the Iceberg: Overmassive Black Holes at 4 < z < 7 Found by JWST Are Not Inconsistent with the Local M BH - M ⋆ Relation

Abstract JWST is revealing a remarkable new population of high-redshift ( z ≳ 4), low-luminosity active galactic nuclei in deep surveys and detecting the host galaxy's stellar light in the most luminous and massive quasars at z ∼ 6 for the first time. Recent findings claim that supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in these systems are significantly more massive than predicted by the local black hole (BH) mass–stellar mass ( M BH - M ⋆ ) relation and that this is not due to sample selection effects. Through detailed statistical modeling, we demonstrate that the coupled effects of selection biases (i.e., finite detection limit and requirements for detecting broad lines) and measurement uncertainties can…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Award: 2006176
• NA
  National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  Award: NAS5-03127
• ST
  Space Telescope Science Institute

  Award: NAS5-03127
• MO
  Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
• JS
  Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

  Awards: JPJSCCA20210003, JP22H01262