X-ray constraints on the fraction of obscured active galactic nuclei at high accretion luminosities
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Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
Abstract
The wide-area XMM-XXL X-ray survey is used to explore the fraction of obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at high accretion luminosities, L-X(2-10 keV) greater than or similar to 10(44) erg s(-1), and out to redshift z approximate to 1.5. The sample covers an area of about 14 deg(2) and provides constraints on the space density of powerful AGNs over a wide range of neutral hydrogen column densities extending beyond the Compton-thick limit, N-H approximate to 10(24) cm(-2). The fraction of obscured Compton-thin (N-H = 10(22) - 10(24) cm(-2)) AGNs is estimated to be approximate to 0.35 for luminosities L-X(2-10 keV) > 10(44) erg s(-1), independent of redshift. For less luminous sources, the fraction of obscured Compton-thin AGNs increases from 0.45 +/- 0.10 at z = 0.25 to 0.75 +/- 0.05 at z = 1.25. Studies that select AGNs in the infrared via template fits to the observed spectral energy distribution of extragalactic sources estimate space densities at high accretion luminosities consistent with the XMM-XXL constraints. There is no evidence for a large population of AGNs (e.g. heavily obscured) identified in the infrared and missed at X-ray wavelengths. We further explore the mid-infrared colours of XMM-XXL AGNs as a function of accretion luminosity, column density and redshift. The fraction of XMM-XXL sources that lie within the mid-infrared colour wedges defined in the literature to select AGNs is primarily a function of redshift. This fraction increases from about 20-30 per cent at z = 0.25 to about 50-70 per cent at z = 1.5.
Description
Keywords
galaxies: active, quasars: general, quasars: supermassive black holes, galaxies: Seyfert, X-rays: diffuse background, ABSORPTION-LINE QUASARS, SUPERMASSIVE BLACK-HOLES, NUSTAR EXTRAGALACTIC SURVEY, STAR-FORMING GALAXIES, PHOTON IMAGING CAMERA, COMPTON-THICK AGN, XMM-NEWTON, PHOTOMETRIC REDSHIFTS, SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY, LEGACY SURVEY