{"record":{"author":{"account_ref":null,"orcid":null},"builds_on":[],"content_schema":"pubphys.content.revision/1","content_sha256":"497fbba48cc4ff1a9a0aa5f0c2d29f52c77cbc86b4961e9ce9f8f0f52e4fc15a","created":"2026-10-03T07:17:55Z","files":[],"origin":{"assisted_by":[],"kind":"seed"},"parents":["5475cf5dc5b1a72283d26dc95dc6e00d7ea4e00096a7c6492e409a1816eeb011"],"salt":"53b92154f2da922fdb32268a577ad8af7c70e85a22b01af19c8aec8edd85fde0","schema":"pubphys.record/2","site":"pubphys.com","target":null,"type":"revision"},"content":{"answer_type":"yes-no","assisted_by":[],"external_id":"astro.first-smbh.overmassive-black-holes","kind":"well-posed","literature_status":"contested","n":"1","parents":[],"plain":"In nearby galaxies a central black hole weighs about a thousandth of the galaxy's stars, but standard estimates for early JWST black holes give ten to a hundred times more. These estimates may be wrong if dense gas widens the spectral lines used to weigh them.","posed_since":"2023","precise":"For broad-line AGN at $z > 4$, including little red dots, determine whether $M_{\\mathrm{BH}}/M_{*}$ exceeds the local value $\\sim 10^{-3}$ by factors 10-100 as single-epoch virial estimates ($M_{\\mathrm{BH}}$ from FWHM of H-alpha or H-beta and luminosity) imply, or whether electron scattering and radiative transfer in dense gas broaden the lines and inflate $M_{\\mathrm{BH}}$. The answer is a calibrated $M_{\\mathrm{BH}}-M_{*}$ relation at $z > 4$ with $M_{\\mathrm{BH}}$ measured independently of the virial line-width method.","problem_ref":null,"references":"","settled_by":"Spatially resolved stellar or gas dynamics (JWST, ALMA, ELT-class telescopes) or reverberation mapping of $z > 4$ broad-line AGN, compared with virial estimates for the same objects.","status_note":"Rusakov et al. (Nature, 2026, arXiv:2503.16595) argued that electron scattering in dense ionized cocoons broadens the lines, giving $M_{\\mathrm{BH}} \\sim 10^{5}-10^{7} M_{\\mathrm{sun}}$, about 100 times below virial estimates; this is disputed.","title":"Are early black holes too massive for their host galaxies?","topic_ref":"b31645054af13e29c5201707761f4cbb39ef8dced934561a5f80d1a755665bcf"},"attested":{"attestation":{"batch":null,"client_id":null,"id_token_sha256":null,"kind":"platform"},"record_hash":"fef4b252886f2fd09b6d46dca09e2f1f43fa0eaa2cdfcd65899cdc611dde6eb9","schema":"pubphys.attested/1"},"envelope":{"attested_hash":"a4f53e847dd4e840478132857404383ecba9f3c57ecf4dbe5b0e37021b363ec3","platform_signature":{"key_id":"c6afc19b31429869751f06879c75cd64ea92654423d15b44be775bf1310a60da","sig":"xeBRAqBQJxtWD9gM8tGOk9SRCrQs5Djq19GqevzodFZt54Wrga0huXgnXX1znbBxZ8RbXPC4KgSoQ4hk8eVoAQ"},"schema":"pubphys.envelope/1"},"record_hash":"fef4b252886f2fd09b6d46dca09e2f1f43fa0eaa2cdfcd65899cdc611dde6eb9","leaf_index":531}