No Arabic abstract
We revisit the correlation between the mid-infrared (6 $mu$m) and hard X-ray (2--10 keV) luminosities of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) to understand the physics behind it. We construct an X-ray flux-limited sample of 571 type 1 AGNs with $f_{0.5-2.0 ,{rm keV}} > 2.4 times 10^{-12}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, drawn from the ROSAT Bright Survey catalog. Cross-matching the sample with infrared data taken from Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, we investigate the relation between the rest-frame 6 $mu$m luminosity ($L_{rm 6}$) and the rest-frame 2--10 keV luminosity ($L_{rm X}$), where $L_{rm 6}$ is corrected for the contamination of host galaxies by using the spectral energy distribution fitting technique. We confirm that $L_{rm 6}$ and $L_{rm X}$ are correlated over four orders of magnitude, in the range of $L_{rm X} = 10^{42-46}$ erg s$^{-1}$. We investigate what kinds of physical parameters regulate this correlation. We find that $L_{rm X}$/$L_{rm 6}$ clearly depends on the Eddington ratio ($lambda_{rm Edd}$) as $log lambda_{rm Edd} = -(0.56 pm 0.10) log , (L_{rm X}/L_{rm 6}) - (1.07 pm 0.05)$, even taking into account quasars that are undetected by ROSAT as well as those detected by XMM-Newton in the literature. We also add hyper-luminous quasars with $L_{rm 6}$ $>$ 10$^{46}$ erg s$^{-1}$ in the literature and perform a correlation analysis. The resultant correlation coefficient is $-0.41 pm 0.07$, indicating a moderately tight correlation between $L_{rm X}$/$L_{rm 6}$ and $lambda_{rm Edd}$. This means that AGNs with high Eddington ratios tend to have lower X-ray luminosities with respect to the mid-infrared luminosities. This dependence can be interpreted as a change in the structure of the accretion flow.
We present an updated mid-infrared (MIR) versus X-ray correlation for the local active galactic nuclei (AGN) population based on the high angular resolution 12 and 18um continuum fluxes from the AGN subarcsecond MIR atlas and 2-10 keV and 14-195 keV data collected from the literature. We isolate a sample of 152 objects with reliable AGN nature and multi-epoch X-ray data and minimal MIR contribution from star formation. Although the sample is not homogeneous or complete, we show that our results are unlikely to be affected by biases. The MIR--X-ray correlation is nearly linear and within a factor of two independent of the AGN type and the wavebands used. The observed scatter is <0.4 dex. A possible flattening of the correlation slope at the highest luminosities probed (~ 10^45 erg/s) is indicated but not significant. Unobscured objects have, on average, an MIR--X-ray ratio that is only <= 0.15 dex higher than that of obscured objects. Objects with intermediate X-ray column densities (22 < log N_H < 23) actually show the highest MIR--X-ray ratio on average. Radio-loud objects show a higher mean MIR--X-ray ratio at low luminosities, while the ratio is lower than average at high luminosities. This may be explained by synchrotron emission from the jet contributing to the MIR at low-luminosities and additional X-ray emission at high luminosities. True Seyfert 2 candidates and double AGN do not show any deviation from the general behaviour. Finally, we show that the MIR--X-ray correlation can be used to verify the AGN nature of uncertain objects. Specifically, we give equations that allow to determine the intrinsic 2-10 keV luminosities and column densities for objects with complex X-ray properties to within 0.34 dex. These techniques are applied to the uncertain objects of the remaining AGN MIR atlas, demonstrating the usefulness of the MIR--X-ray correlation as an empirical tool.
We present an investigation into how well the properties of the accretion flow onto a supermassive black hole may be coupled to those of the overlying hot corona. To do so, we specifically measure the characteristic spectral index, Gamma, of a power-law energy distribution, over an energy range of 2 to 10 keV, for X-ray selected, broad-lined radio-quiet AGN up to z~2 in COSMOS and E-CDF-S. We test the previously reported dependence between Gamma and black hole mass, FWHM and Eddington ratio using a sample of AGN covering a broad range in these parameters based on both the Mg ii and H-alpha emission lines with the later afforded by recent near infrared spectroscopic observations using Subaru/FMOS. We calculate the Eddington ratios, lambda_Edd, for sources where a bolometric luminosity (L_Bol) has been presented in the literature, based on SED fitting, or, for sources where these data do not exist, we calculate L_Bol using a bolometric correction to the LX, derived from a relationship between the bolometric correction, and LX/L3000. From a sample of 69 X-ray bright sources (>250 counts), where Gamma can be measured with greatest precision, with an estimate of L_Bol, we find a statistically significant correlation between Gamma and lambda_Edd, which is highly significant with a chance probability of 6.59x10^-8. A statistically significant correlation between Gamma and the FWHM of the optical lines is confirmed, but at lower significance than with lambda_Edd indicating that lambda_Edd is the key parameter driving conditions in the corona. Linear regression analysis reveals that Gamma=(0.32+/-0.05)log10 lambda_Edd+(2.27+/-0.06) and Gamma=(-0.69+/-0.11)log10(FWHM/km/s)+(4.44+/-0.42). Our results on Gamma-lambda_Edd are in very good agreement with previous results. (ABRIDGED)
We present the hard-band ($2-10,mathrm{keV}$) X-ray luminosity function (HXLF) of $0.5-2,mathrm{keV}$ band selected AGN at high redshift. We have assembled a sample of 141 AGN at $3<zlesssim5$ from X-ray surveys of different size and depth, in order to sample different regions in the $ L_X - z$ plane. The HXLF is fitted in the range $mathrm{logL_Xsim43-45}$ with standard analytical evolutionary models through a maximum likelihood procedure. The evolution of the HXLF is well described by a pure density evolution, with the AGN space density declining by a factor of $sim10$ from $z=3$ to 5. A luminosity-dependent density evolution model which, normally, best represents the HXLF evolution at lower redshift, is also consistent with the data, but a larger sample of low-luminosity ($mathrm{logL_X}<44$), high-redshift AGN is necessary to constrain this model. We also estimated the intrinsic fraction of AGN obscured by a column density $mathrm{logN_H}geq23$ to be $0.54pm0.05$, with no strong dependence on luminosity. This fraction is higher than the value in the Local Universe, suggesting an evolution of the luminous ($mathrm{L_X>10^{44}mathrm{erg,s^{-1}}}$) obscured AGN fraction from $z=0$ to $z>3$.
Hard X-ray surveys are an important tool for the study of active galactic nuclei (AGN): they provide almost an unbiased view of absorption in the extragalactic population, allow the study of spectral features such as reflection and high energy cut-off which would otherwise be unexplored and favour the discovery of some blazars at high redshift. Here, we present the absorption properties of a large sample of INTEGRAL detected AGN, including an update on the fraction of Compton thick objects. For a sub-sample of 87 sources, which represent a complete set of bright AGN, we will discuss the hard X-ray (20-100 keV) spectral properties, also in conjunction with Swift/BAT 58 month data, providing information on BAT/IBIS cross-calibration constant, average spectral shape and spectral complexity. For this complete sample, we will also present broad-band data using soft X-ray observations, in order to explore the complexity of AGN spectra both at low and high energies and to highlight the variety of shapes. Future prospects for AGN studies with INTEGRAL will also be outlined.
We present results of near-infrared photometry (J, H, K_S) for a sample of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) obtained from hard X-ray surveys with ASCA. The sample covers the AGNs at z=0.1-1 with L(2-10keV)=10^42-10^46 erg/s with very high completeness. The fraction of red (J-K_S>2 mag) AGNs in our sample is 2(+-1)%, which is comparable to that for optically- or UV-selected quasi-stellar objects (QSOs, i.e. luminous AGNs). The number of red AGNs found in our sample is also consistent with that expected from the surface density of red AGNs found in 2MASS by Cutri et al. (2001). We find that the anomalously-small dust-to-gas ratios in circumnuclear gas, which is seen in some AGNs with Seyfert-class luminosity, also occur in the QSOs (AGNs with luminosity of L(2-10keV) > 10^44.5 erg/s). For all the QSOs with an X-ray absorption of N_H > 10^22 /cm2 in our sample, the values of A_V/N_H are smaller than the Galactic value by a factor of 5 to 100. Since a fraction of this population among the QSOs in our sample is about 30%, such fraction of optical/UV-selected type 1 QSOs known to date may show type 2 nature in X-ray.