Related papers: Testing the AGN models for the X-ray background
We present synthesis models of the X-ray background where the available X-ray observational constraints are used to derive information on the AGN population properties. We show the need for luminous X-ray absorbed AGNs, the QSO2s, in…
We discuss the constraints on the AGN evolution from the cosmic X-ray background and source counts. A synthesis model to fit the X-ray background is presented. In the model, the spectrum of type 2 AGN has been modeled including Compton…
The synthesis model for the cosmic X-ray background (XRB) -based on the integrated emission of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs)- is complemented with new observational results. We adopt the most recent estimates of the AGN X-ray luminosity…
ROSAT deep and shallow surveys have provided an almost complete inventory of the constituents of the soft X-ray background which led to a population synthesis model for the whole X-ray background with interesting cosmological consequences.…
The origin of the X-ray background spectral intensity has been a long standing problem in high energy astrophysics research. Deep X-ray surveys carried out with ROSAT and ASCA combined with the broad band spectral results of Ginga and…
Unexpected in the AGN unified scheme, there exists a population of broad-line z~2 QSOs which have heavily absorbed X-ray spectra. These objects constitute 10% of the population at luminosities and redshifts characteristic of the main…
Deep X-ray surveys have shown that the cosmic X-ray background (XRB) is largely due to the accretion onto supermassive black holes, integrated over the cosmic time. These surveys have resolved more than 80% of the 0.1-10 keV X-ray…
In contradiction to the simple AGN unification schemes, there exists a significant population of broad line, z~2 QSOs which have heavily absorbed X-ray spectra. These objects have luminosities and redshifts characteristic of the sources…
We present a synthesis model of the X-ray background based on the cross-correlation between mid-infrared and X-ray surveys, where the distribution of type 2 sources is assumed to follow that of luminous infrared galaxies while type 1…
The X-ray Background has been resolved in the 0.5-5keV band and found to consist mostly of both unabsorbed and absorbed AGN with column densities <1e23. This contrasts with the local AGN population where the column density range extends to…
Models invoking large populations of obscured AGN are known to provide good fits to the spectrum of the X-ray background and the observed soft and hard X-ray number counts. An important consequence of these models is that significant…
The idea that substantial absorption in AGN could be a definite characteristic of the early phases of QSO evolution was invoked to explain the submillimeter observations of X-ray absorbed AGN at z~1 to z~3, that have shown strong emission…
This talk discusses the unified X-ray/UV absorption models in AGN. I will first review the models and discuss how they offer an unique opportunity to probe the near nuclear environment of AGNs. Recently, however, the validity of these…
Combining information on absorbing material in AGN from X-ray and the UV creates a powerful investigative tool. Here we give examples from both low and high redshift.
The origin of the hard X-ray background (XRB) as a superposition of unabsorbed and absorbed Active Galactic Nuclei is now widely accepted as the standard model. The identification of faint X-ray sources in ROSAT, ASCA, and BeppoSAX…
We discuss various ideas for the origin of the soft X-ray excess seen in AGN. There are clear advantages to models where this arises from atomic processes in partially ionised rather than where it is a true continuum component. However,…
The recent deep X-ray surveys at both soft (0.5--2 keV) and hard (2--10 keV) energies have greatly extended our knowledge of the X-ray source density and spectral shapes at relatively faint fluxes adding further evidence on the fact that…
Deep X-ray surveys by Chandra and XMM-Newton have resolved about 80% of the 2-10 keV cosmic extragalactic X-ray background (CXRB) into point sources, the majority of which are obscured AGN. The obscuration might be connected to processes…
Mid-IR colour selection techniques have proved to be very efficient in finding AGN. This is because the AGN heats the surrounding dust producing warm mid-IR colours. Using the WISE 3.6, 4.5 and 12 $\mu m$ colours, the largest sample of IR…
The paradigm for AGN unification is reviewed, in terms of its optical manifestation as obscuration in the equatorial plane and its radio manifestation as relativistic beaming of the jet emission. Within this paradigm, observed AGN…