Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userDo current X-ray observations capture most of the black-hole accretion at high redshifts?
130
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
The cosmic black hole accretion density (BHAD) is critical for our understanding of the formation and evolution of supermassive black holes (BHs). However, at high redshifts ($z>3$), X-ray observations report BHADs significantly ($sim 10$ times) lower than those predicted by cosmological simulations. It is therefore paramount to constrain the high-$z$ BHAD using independent methods other than direct X-ray detections. The recently established relation between star formation rate and BH accretion rate among bulge-dominated galaxies provides such a chance, as it enables an estimate of the BHAD from the star-formation histories (SFHs) of lower-redshift objects. Using the CANDELS Lyman-$alpha$ Emission At Reionization (CLEAR) survey, we model the SFHs for a sample of 108 bulge-dominated galaxies at $z=$0.7-1.5, and further estimate the BHAD contributed by their high-$z$ progenitors. The predicted BHAD at $zapprox 4$-5 is consistent with the simulation-predicted values, but higher than the X-ray measurements (by $approx$3-10 times at $z=$4-5). Our result suggests that the current X-ray surveys could be missing many heavily obscured Compton-thick active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at high redshifts. However, this BHAD estimation assumes that the high-$z$ progenitors of our $z=$0.7-1.5 sample remain bulge-dominated where star formation is correlated with BH cold-gas accretion. Alternatively, our prediction could signify a stark decline in the fraction of bulges in high-$z$ galaxies (with an associated drop in BH accretion). JWST and Origins will resolve the discrepancy between our predicted BHAD and the X-ray results by constraining Compton-thick AGN and bulge evolution at high redshifts.
rate research
Read More
Several investigations of the X-ray variability of active galactic nuclei (AGN) using the normalised excess variance (${sigma^2_{rm NXS}}$) parameter have shown that variability has a strong anti-correlation with black hole mass ($M_{rm BH}$) and X-ray luminosity ($L_{rm X}$). In this study we confirm these previous correlations and find no evidence of a redshift evolution. Using observations from XMM-Newton, we determine the ${sigma^2_{rm NXS}}$ and $L_{rm X}$ for a sample of 1091 AGN drawn from the XMM-Newton Cluster Survey (XCS) - making this the largest study of X-ray spectral properties of AGNs. We created light-curves in three time-scales; 10 ks, 20 ks and 40 ks and used these to derive scaling relations between ${sigma^2_{rm NXS}}$, $L_{rm X}$ (2.0-10 keV range) and literature estimates of $M_{rm BH}$ from reverberation mapping. We confirm the anti-correlation between $M_{rm BH}$ and ${sigma^2_{rm NXS}}$ and find a positive correlation between $M_{rm BH}$ and $L_{rm X}$. The use of ${sigma^2_{rm NXS}}$ is practical only for pointed observations where the observation time is tens of kiloseconds. For much shorter observations one cannot accurately quantify variability to estimate $M_{rm BH}$. Here we describe a method to derive $L_{rm X}$ from short duration observations and used these results as an estimate for $M_{rm BH}$. We find that it is possible to estimate $L_{rm X}$ from observations of just a few hundred seconds and that when correlated with $M_{rm BH}$, the relation is statistically similar to the relation of $M_{rm BH}$-$L_{rm X}$ derived from a spectroscopic analysis of full XMM observations. This method may be particularly useful to the eROSITA mission, an all-sky survey, which will detect $>$10$^{6}$ AGN.
We analyse the properties of the CIV broad emission line in connection with the X-ray emission of 30 bright SDSS quasars at z~3.0-3.3 with pointed XMM-Newton observations, which were selected to test the suitability of AGN as cosmological tools. In our previous work, we found that a large fraction (~25%) of the quasars in this sample are X-ray underluminous by factors of >3-10. As absorbing columns of >10$^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$ can be safely ruled out, their weakness is most likely intrinsic. Here we explore possible correlations between the UV and X-ray features of these sources to investigate the origin of X-ray weakness. We fit their UV SDSS spectra and analyse their CIV properties (e.g., equivalent width, EW; line peak velocity, $upsilon_{rm peak}$) as a function of the X-ray photon index and 2-10 keV flux. We confirm the trends of CIV $upsilon_{rm peak}$ and EW with UV luminosity at 2500 angstrom for both X-ray weak and X-ray normal quasars, as well as the correlation between X-ray weakness and CIV EW. In contrast to some recent work, we do not observe any clear relation between the 2-10 keV luminosity and $upsilon_{rm peak}$. We find a correlation between the hard X-ray flux and the integrated CIV flux for X-ray normal quasars, whilst X-ray weak quasars deviate from the main trend by more than 0.5 dex. We argue that X-ray weakness might be interpreted in a starved X-ray corona picture associated with an ongoing disc-wind phase. If the wind is ejected in the vicinity of the black hole, the extreme-UV radiation that reaches the corona will be depleted, depriving the corona of seeds photons and generating an X-ray weak quasar. Yet, at the largest UV luminosities (>10$^{47}$ erg s$^{-1}$), there will still be an ample reservoir of ionising photons that can explain the excess CIV emission observed in the X-ray weak quasars with respect to normal sources of similar X-ray luminosities.
We perform a detailed study of the location of brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) on the fundamental plane of black hole (BH) accretion, which is an empirical correlation between a BH X-ray and radio luminosity and mass supported by theoretical models of accretion. The sample comprises 72 BCGs out to $zsim0.3$ and with reliable nuclear X-ray and radio luminosities. These are found to correlate as $L_mathrm{X} propto L_mathrm{R}^{0.75 pm 0.08}$, favoring an advection-dominated accretion flow as the origin of the X-ray emission. BCGs are found to be on average offset from the fundamental plane such that their BH masses seem to be underestimated by the $M_mathrm{BH}-M_mathrm{K}$ relation a factor $sim$10. The offset is not explained by jet synchrotron cooling and is independent of emission process or amount of cluster gas cooling. Those core-dominated BCGs are found to be more significantly offset than those with weak core radio emission. For BCGs to on average follow the fundamental plane, a large fraction ($sim40%$) should have BH masses $> 10^{10}$ M$_{odot}$ and thus host ultramassive BHs. The local BH-galaxy scaling relations would not hold for these extreme objects. The possible explanations for their formation, either via a two-phase process (the BH formed first, the galaxy grows later) or as descendants of high-z seed BHs, challenge the current paradigm of a synchronized galaxy-BH growth.
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 detections from the Chandra Source Catalog (Version 2) with galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and registering individual images for improved relative astrometric accuracy. The spatial resolution of Chandra allows for the sample to extend out to z~0.9. Optical counterparts are detected among one-fourth of the sample, one-third of which are consistent with dwarf galaxy stellar masses. The average intrinsic X-ray spectral slope indicates efficient accretion, potentially driven by galaxy mergers, and the column densities suggest one-third of the sample has significant X-ray absorption. We find that 144 of the HLX candidates have X-ray emission that is significantly in excess of the expected contribution from star formation and hot gas, strongly suggesting that they are produced by accretion onto black holes more massive than stars. After correcting for an average background or foreground contamination rate of 8%, we estimate that at least ~20 of the HLX candidates are consistent with IMBH masses, and this estimate is potentially several times higher assuming more efficient accretion. This catalog currently represents the largest sample of uniformly-selected, off-nuclear IMBH candidates. These sources may represent scenarios in which a low-mass galaxy hosting an IMBH has merged with a more massive galaxy and provide an excellent sample for testing models of low-mass BH formation and merger-driven growth.
We exploit the 7 Ms textit{Chandra} observations in the chandra,Deep Field-South (mbox{CDF-S}), the deepest X-ray survey to date, coupled with CANDELS/GOODS-S data, to measure the total X-ray emission arising from 2076 galaxies at $3.5leq z < 6.5$. This aim is achieved by stacking the textit{Chandra} data at the positions of optically selected galaxies, reaching effective exposure times of $geq10^9mathrm{s}$. We detect significant ($>3.7sigma$) X-ray emission from massive galaxies at $zapprox4$. We also report the detection of massive galaxies at $zapprox5$ at a $99.7%$ confidence level ($2.7sigma$), the highest significance ever obtained for X-ray emission from galaxies at such high redshifts. No significant signal is detected from galaxies at even higher redshifts. The stacking results place constraints on the BHAD associated with the known high-redshift galaxy samples, as well as on the SFRD at high redshift, assuming a range of prescriptions for X-ray emission due to X- ray binaries. We find that the X-ray emission from our sample is likely dominated by processes related to star formation. Our results show that low-rate mass accretion onto SMBHs in individually X-ray-undetected galaxies is negligible, compared with the BHAD measured for samples of X-ray detected AGN, for cosmic SMBH mass assembly at high redshift. We also place, for the first time, constraints on the faint-end of the AGN X-ray luminosity function ($mathrm{logL_Xsim42}$) at $z>4$, with evidence for fairly flat slopes. The implications of all of these findings are discussed in the context of the evolution of the AGN population at high redshift.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
