Surveying the Onset and Evolution of Supermassive Black Holes at High-z with AXIS-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Surveying the Onset and Evolution of Supermassive Black Holes at High-z with AXIS

Published:2024-06-25 Issue:7 Volume:10 Page:276
ISSN:2218-1997
Container-title:Universe
language:en
Short-container-title:Universe

Author:

Cappelluti Nico¹^ORCID,Foord Adi²^ORCID,Marchesi Stefano³⁴⁵,Pacucci Fabio⁶⁷^ORCID,Ricarte Angelo⁶⁷^ORCID,Habouzit Melanie⁸⁹,Vito Fabio⁵,Powell Meredith¹⁰^ORCID,Koss Michael¹¹^ORCID,Mushotzky Richard¹²

Affiliation:

1. Department of Physics, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA

2. Department of Physics, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Cir, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA

3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Kinard Lab of Physics, Clemson, SC 29634, USA

4. Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia (DIFA), Università di Bologna, Via Gobetti 93/2, 40129 Bologna, Italy

5. INAF-Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio, Via Piero Gobetti 93/3, 40129 Bologna, Italy

6. Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

7. Black Hole Initiative, Harvard University, 20 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

8. Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, ITA, Albert-Ueberle-Str. 2, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany

9. Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany

10. Leibniz-Institut fur Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, 14482 Potsdam, Germany

11. Eureka Scientific, 2452 Delmer Street Suite 100, Oakland, CA 94602-3017, USA

12. Department of Astronomy and Joint Space-Science Institute, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA

Abstract

The nature and origin of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) remain an open matter of debate within the scientific community. While various theoretical scenarios have been proposed, each with specific observational signatures, the lack of sufficiently sensitive X-ray observations hinders the progress of observational tests. In this white paper, we present how AXIS will contribute to solving this issue. With an angular resolution of 1.5″ on-axis and minimal off-axis degradation, we designed a deep survey capable of reaching flux limits in the [0.5–2] keV range of approximately 2 × 10−18 erg s−1 cm−2 over an area of 0.13 deg2 in approximately 7 million seconds (7 Ms). Furthermore, we planned an intermediate depth survey covering approximately 2 deg2 and reaching flux limits of about 2 × 10−17 erg s−1 cm−2 in order to detect a significant number of SMBHs with X-ray luminosities (LX) of approximately 1042 erg s−1 up to z∼10. These observations will enable AXIS to detect SMBHs with masses smaller than 105 M⊙, assuming Eddington-limited accretion and a typical bolometric correction for Type II AGN. AXIS will provide valuable information on the seeding and population synthesis models of SMBHs, allowing for more accurate constraints on their initial mass function (IMF) and accretion history from z∼0–10. To accomplish this, AXIS will leverage the unique synergy of survey telescopes such as the JWST, Roman, Euclid, Vera Rubin Telescope, and the new generation of 30 m class telescopes. These instruments will provide optical identification and redshift measurements, while AXIS will discover the smoking gun of nuclear activity, particularly in the case of highly obscured AGN or peculiar UV spectra as predicted and recently observed by the JWST in the early Universe.

Funder

University of Miami

Publisher

MDPI AG

Link

https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/10/7/276/pdf

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