Measuring monster MBHs: maybe mighty, maybe merely massive
M. Gliozzi, A. Akylas, J. K. Williams, I. E. Papadakis

TL;DR
This study evaluates the reliability of indirect black hole mass measurement methods in distant, highly accreting AGN, finding that the X-ray scaling method is consistent with the single epoch method except in cases of heavy absorption or super-Eddington accretion.
Contribution
It systematically compares the X-ray scaling method with the single epoch method for high-redshift quasars, revealing their consistency and highlighting issues with absorption and super-Eddington accretion.
Findings
X-ray method reliably estimates MBH in distant AGN.
Single epoch method underestimates MBH in absorbed AGN.
Underestimation of MBH affects correlations and conclusions about AGN properties.
Abstract
Accurate black hole mass (MBH) measurements in high-z galaxies are difficult yet crucial to constrain the growth of supermassive BHs, and to discriminate between competing BH seed models. Recent studies claimed the detection of massive BHs in very distant AGN, implying extreme growth conditions. However, these estimates are usually obtained by extrapolating indirect methods that are calibrated for moderately accreting, low-luminosity AGN in the local universe. To assess the reliability of the single epoch method (SE) in the distant universe, we compute the MBH for a sample of hyper-luminous distant quasars and a sample of highly accreting AGN using the X-ray scaling method. We first verify that this X-ray method yields reliable MBH values for distant highly accreting objects. Then, we carry out a systematic comparison with the SE method and find that these two indirect methods yield…
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