Related papers: Do Some AGN Lack X-ray Emission?
Intermediate Mass Black Hole (IMBH) mergers with masses $10^4 - 10^6$ $M_{\odot}$ are expected to produce gravitational waves (GWs) detectable by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) with high signal to noise ratios out to redshift…
More than 50% of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) are suspected to be red and affected by dust-obscuration. Meanwhile, popular spectral diagnostics of AGNs are based on optical or ultraviolet light, making the dust obscuration as a primary…
Hyper-luminous X-ray sources (HLXs; L_X>10^41 erg s^-1) are off-nuclear X-ray sources in galaxies and strong candidates for intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs). We have constructed a sample of 169 HLX candidates by combining X-ray…
Dual active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with comparable masses are commonly witnessed among the major merged galaxies with interaction remnants. Considering almost every massive galaxy is associated with multiple dwarf satellites around it,…
Extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs) and intermediate-mass-ratio inspirals (IMRIs) are important gravitational-wave (GW) sources for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). So far, their formation and evolution are considered to be…
We have used XMM-Newton to observe six Lyman Break Analogs (LBAs): members of the rare population of local galaxies that have properties that are very similar to distant Lyman Break Galaxies. Our six targets were specifically selected…
It is widely accepted that black holes (BHs) with masses greater than a million solar masses (Msun) lurk at the centres of massive galaxies. The origins of such `supermassive' black holes (SMBHs) remain unknown (Djorgovski et al. 1999),…
In recent years deep X-ray and infrared surveys have provided an efficient way to find accreting supermassive black holes, otherwise known as active galactic nuclei (AGN), in the young universe. Such surveys can, unlike optical surveys,…
We have selected a sample of X-ray emitting active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in low-mass host galaxies (5e9-2e10 Msun) out to z~1. By comparing to AGNs in more massive hosts, we have found that the AGN spatial number density and the fraction…
A crucial challenge in astrophysics over the coming decades will be to understand the origins of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) that lie at the centres of most, if not all, galaxies. The processes responsible for the initial formation of…
We use a large, heterogeneous sample of local active galactic nuclei (AGN) that includes Seyfert 1s, Seyfert 2s and PG quasars to investigate for the first time the relation between black hole mass (M_BH) and mid-infrared nuclear emission.…
For over 60 years, the scientific community has studied actively growing central super-massive black holes (active galactic nuclei -- AGN) but fundamental questions on their genesis remain unanswered. Numerical simulations and theoretical…
Stellar black holes (sBHs) are widely believed to exist in the accretion disks of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Previous studies often focus on the transient emission produced by embedded sBHs. Here, we explore the possible observational…
Recent models of super-massive black hole (SMBH) and host galaxy joint evolution predict the presence of a key phase where accretion, traced by obscured Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) emission, is coupled with powerful star formation. Then…
We report the discovery of an active intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) candidate in the center of nearby barred bulgeless galaxy $\rm NGC~3319$. The point X-ray source revealed by archival Chandra and XMM-Newton observations is spatially…
If "seed" central black holes were common in the subgalactic building blocks that merged to form present-day massive galaxies, then relic intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) should be present in the Galactic bulge and halo. We use a…
Recent studies suggest that numerous intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) may wander undetected across the Universe, emitting little radiation. These IMBHs largely preserve their birth masses, offering critical insights into the formation…
Using the wide multi-band photometry available in the COSMOS field we explore the host galaxy properties of a large sample of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) obtained by combining X-ray and optical spectroscopic selections. Based on a careful…
(Abridged) The X-ray background can be used to constrain the accretion history of Supermassive Black Holes (SMBHs) in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). A knowledge of the hard X-ray bolometric correction, \kappa_{2-10keV} is a vital input into…
We report first results from a large project to measure black hole (BH) mass in high accretion rate active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Such objects may be different from other AGNs in being powered by slim accretion disks and showing saturated…