Cosmic X-ray surveys of distant active galaxies. The demographics, physics, and ecology of growing supermassive black holes

Brandt, W.N.; Alexander, D.M.

doi:10.1007/s00159-014-0081-z

Cosmic X-ray surveys of distant active galaxies. The demographics, physics, and ecology of growing supermassive black holes

Brandt, W.N.; Alexander, D.M.

Authors

W.N. Brandt

Professor David Alexander d.m.alexander@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

We review results from cosmic X-ray surveys of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) over the past ≈15 years that have dramatically improved our understanding of growing supermassive black holes in the distant universe. First, we discuss the utility of such surveys for AGN investigations and the capabilities of the missions making these surveys, emphasizing Chandra, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR. Second, we briefly describe the main cosmic X-ray surveys, the essential roles of complementary multiwavelength data, and how AGNs are selected from these surveys. We then review key results from these surveys on the AGN population and its evolution (“demographics”), the physical processes operating in AGNs (“physics”), and the interactions between AGNs and their environments (“ecology”). We conclude by describing some significant unresolved questions and prospects for advancing the field.

Citation

Brandt, W., & Alexander, D. (2015). Cosmic X-ray surveys of distant active galaxies. The demographics, physics, and ecology of growing supermassive black holes. Astronomy and Astrophysics Review, 23(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00159-014-0081-z

Journal Article Type	Article
Online Publication Date	Jan 30, 2015
Publication Date	Dec 1, 2015
Deposit Date	May 15, 2015
Publicly Available Date	May 21, 2015
Journal	Astronomy and Astrophysics Review
Print ISSN	0935-4956
Electronic ISSN	1432-0754
Publisher	Springer
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	23
Issue	1
Article Number	1
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00159-014-0081-z
Keywords	Surveys, Cosmology: observations, Galaxies: active, Galaxies: nuclei, Galaxies: Seyfert, Galaxies: quasars, Galaxies: evolution, Black hole physics.
Related Public URLs	http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015A%26ARv..23....1B