Related papers: Physics and evolution of obscured X-ray sources: a…

We review the most important findings on AGN physics and cosmological evolution as obtained by extragalactic X-ray surveys and associated multiwavelength observations. We briefly discuss the perspectives for future enterprises and in…

The growth of supermassive black holes across cosmic time leaves a radiative imprint recorded in the X-ray background (XRB). The XRB spectral shape suggests that a large population of distant, hidden nuclei must exist, which are now being…

Chandra observations show the importance of the X-ray band for studying the evolution of galaxies. Binary X-ray sources are an easily detectable tracer of the stellar population. Chandra studies of these populations are giving us insights…

We report the final optical identifications of the medium-depth (~60 ksec), contiguous (2 deg^2) XMM-Newton survey of the COSMOS field. XMM-Newton has detected ~800 X-ray sources down to limiting fluxes of ~5x10^{-16}, ~3x10^{-15}, and…

We present results from the photometric and spectroscopic identification of 122 X-ray sources recently discovered by XMM-Newton in the 2-10 keV band (the HELLAS2XMM 1dF sample). Their flux cover the range 8E-15-4E-13 cgs and the total area…

Extragalactic X-ray surveys are exceptionally powerful tools for studying the evolution of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies, by detecting large numbers of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and star-forming galaxies over a wide…

While theory and simulations indicate that galaxy mergers play an important role in the cosmological evolution of accreting black holes and their host galaxies, samples of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) in galaxies at close separations are…

We report on an optical (SDSS) and X-ray (XMM) study of an optically selected sample of four dual AGN systems at projected separations of 30--60~kpc. All sources are detected in the X-ray band (0.3-10 keV); seven objects are optically…

Hyper-Luminous Infrared Galaxies (HLIRGs) are the most luminous persistent objects in the Universe. They exhibit extremely high star formation rates, and most of them seem to harbour an AGN. They are unique laboratories to investigate…

The integrated emission of highly obscured AGN is expected to provide a major contribution to the X-ray energy density in the Universe: the X-ray background (XRB). The study of these objects is possible only at energies where the effects of…

I briefly describe a few important scientific issues that could be addressed effectively via the combination of data from JDEM and X-ray missions. The topics covered are largely focused on active galactic nuclei (AGN) and include (1) the…

The COSMOS survey is a multiwavelength survey aimed to study the evolution of galaxies, AGN and the large scale structure. The XMM-COSMOS is a deep X-ray survey over the full 2 deg2 of the COSMOS area. It consists of 55 XMM-Newton pointings…

Population studies of the extragalactic objects are a major part of the universe large-scale structure study. Apart from radio, infrared, and visible wavelength bands, observations and further identification of extragalactic objects such as…

The question of the X-ray background has been largely settled over the last 10 years using the ROSAT satellite. About 70-80 % of the soft X-ray background was resolved into discrete sources, which are mainly X-ray and optically unobscured…

Significant progress has been made in the last few years on understanding how supermassive black holes form and grow. In this paper, we begin by reviewing the spectral signatures of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) ranging from radio to hard…

We present the observed-frame optical, near- and mid-infrared properties of X-ray selected AGN in the Lockman Hole. Using a likelihood ratio method on optical, near-infrared or mid-infrared catalogues, we assigned counterparts to 401 out of…

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…

Our current understanding of the evolution of obscured accretion onto supermassive black holes is reviewed. We consider the literature results on the relation between the fraction of moderately obscured, Compton-thin AGN and redshift, and…

Large extragalactic surveys allow us to trace, in a statistical sense, how supermassive black holes, their host galaxies, and their dark matter halos evolve together over cosmic time, and so explore the consequences of AGN feedback on…

Multiwavelength observations of the hard X-ray selected sources by Chandra and XMM-Newton surveys have significantly improved our knowledge of the objects responsible of the hard X-ray background. A surprising finding is the discovery of a…