MARTA: A "little" black hole hidden in a clumpy, metal-poor galaxy at z~3.8

Abstract

JWST has extended the search for accreting black holes into the high-redshift, low-mass regime. We report a low-mass black hole candidate in MARTA 3887, a clumpy, metal-poor galaxy at $z=3.7694$, combining deep JWST/NIRSpec spectroscopy, HST and JWST imaging, and archival VLT/MUSE data. We detect a broad H$α$ component with $L_{\rm Hα,b}=2.35\times10^{41}$ erg s$^{-1}$ and FWHM $=1270^{+260}_{-250}$ km s$^{-1}$, with no [O III] counterpart of comparable width. Under a broad-line-region interpretation, virial calibrations give $\log(M_{\rm BH}/M_\odot)=6.52^{+0.18}_{-0.23}$ and $λ_{\rm Edd}=0.07$, or up to 0.38 for alternative calibrations. The host comprises at least three compact clumps, with $\log(M_\star/M_\odot)=8.16^{+0.09}_{-0.10}$. If stellar photoionization dominates the narrow lines, the gas is highly ionized and metal poor, with $12+\log({\rm O/H})=7.68\pm0.04$ ($\simeq0.10\,Z_\odot$). The inferred $M_{\rm BH}/M_\star=2.3\%$ lies about 2 dex above the extrapolated local relation, suggesting that black-hole growth has outpaced the assembly of the observed host. If growth began only when the first 10% of the observed stellar mass had formed ($t_{10}=92$ Myr ago), a $10^2\,M_\odot$ seed would require a lifetime-mean Eddington ratio $\simeq5.7$; earlier growth or a more massive, e.g. direct-collapse, seed would allow sub-Eddington mean accretion. MUSE reveals extended Ly$α$ emission ($\simeq6.5$-6.9 proper kpc), offset by $+64^{+10}_{-8}$ km s$^{-1}$ from systemic, with a provisional escape fraction of $\simeq0.44$. Together with a Mg II doublet ratio close to the optically thin limit and a high [O III]/[O II] ratio, this makes MARTA 3887 a laboratory to study black-hole growth, stellar assembly, and ionizing-photon escape jointly.