Start Presentation: Robust and complete Demographics of Active Galactic Nuclei

(back to all presentations)

Table of contents

Author: Johannes Buchner

Homepage: http://astrost.at/istics/

Further information:

Robust and complete Demographics of Active Galactic Nuclei

Abstract: A robust determination of fraction of obscured and Compton-thick AGN is a long-standing issue in AGN research. We address this question using a multi-tiered survey of 2000 X-ray hard-band detected AGN covering well the redshift range of z=0.5-4, luminosities of L=10^42-46 erg/s and column densities of NH=10^20-26 cm^-2. We analyse the spectrum of each source in detail with a Bayesian fitting technique capable of handling also the low counts, and propagate errors in association and photometric redshift. We developed a new non-parametric method that reveals the distribution of the AGN population in luminosity, obscuration and redshift. We find the fraction of Compton-thick AGN to be 36%(+-8) averaged over cosmic time, while 75%(+-4) AGN are obscured. These fractions evolve with cosmic time, as AGN of different obscuration show distinct evolutionary patterns, with AGN around NH~10^23 cm^-2 evolving fastest. We study the luminosity dependence of the fraction of obscured and Compton-thick AGN in detail, and find that this relationship evolves over cosmic time. In my talk I will discuss models that can explain the large fraction of Compton-thick AGN as well as the luminosity-obscuration relationship.

Download presentation

Robust and complete Demographics 
of Active Galactic Nuclei
Data: ~2000 2-10keV detected AGN: CDFS, AEGIS-XD, C-COSMOS, XMM-XXL (20deg²)
Full Bayesian spectral analysis                 			          	     	Buchner+14
Non-parametric luminosity-function & NH distribution     	Buchner+15
Johannes Buchner (MPE)
Antonis Georgakakis, Kirpal Nandra, Murray Brightman, Marie-Luise Menzel, Zhu Liu, Li-Ting Hsu, Mara Salvato, Cyprian Rangel, James Aird, Andrea Merloni and Nicholas Ross
http://arxiv.org/abs/1501.02805
Fraction of Obscured
NH>10²²cm-2
LX>1042 erg/s
Averaged over cosmic time
AGN: 
38+8-7%
Fraction of Compton-thick
AGN: 77+4-5%