Related papers: AGN models for the X and gamma-ray backgrounds
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 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…
We report the results of a detailed analysis of the contribution of various classes of AGNs to the extragalactic X-ray background (XRB). The model is based on the unification schemes of AGNs and on their related X-ray spectral properties in…
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…
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…
Deep X-ray surveys are providing crucial information on the evolution of AGN and galaxies. We review some of the latest results based on the X-ray spectral analysis of the sources detected in the Chandra Deep Field South, namely: i)…
Extensive programs of follow-up observations of hard X-ray selected sources have unambiguosly revealed that the sources of the X-ray background are characterized by an extremely large dispersion in their optical magnitude and spectroscopic…
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) unification, which implies a large number of obscured AGN, can explain the optical, infrared and X-ray content of deep multiwavelength surveys. Here, we show that the same model also successfully explains the…
The cores of active galactic nuclei (AGN) harbor some of the most extreme conditions of matter and energy in the Universe. One of the major goals of high-energy astrophysics is to probe these extreme environments in the vicinity of…
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 cosmic time. The ROSAT, Chandra and XMM-Newton satellites have resolved more than 80% of the…
I review here some of the main observational features in microquasars and AGNs as sources of high-energy gamma-rays as well as some of the current models that try to explain the emission in the gamma-ray domain.
We explore the connections between the infrared and X-ray properties of AGNs. Using the well constrained infrared SEDs of a sample of local (i.e., z < 0.1) sample of X-ray AGNs, we develop new diagnostics that exploit 24um and 70um flux…
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…
Multiwavelength observations of the hard X-ray selected sources discovered by BeppoSAX, Chandra and XMM-Newton surveys have significantly improved our knowledge of the AGN population. The increasing number of X-ray obscured AGN so far…
The Cosmic X-ray background carries the information of cosmic accretion onto super-massive black holes. The intensity at its peak can be used to constrain the integrated space density of highly obscured AGNs. Determining the shape and…
The spectrum of the hard X-ray background records the history of accretion processes integrated over the cosmic time. Several pieces of observational and theoretical evidence indicate that a significant fraction of the energy density is…
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…
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 X-ray background (XRB) is due to the aggregate of active galactic nuclei (AGN), which peak in activity at z~1 and is often modeled as the sum of different proportions of unabsorbed, moderately- and heavily-absorbed AGN. We present the…
Recent results, the present status and the perspectives of high energy gamma-ray astronomy are described. Since the satellite observations by the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and its precursor missions have been reviewed extensively,…