[en] We aim to constrain the evolution of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) as a function of obscuration using an X-ray-selected sample of ∼2000 AGNs from a multi-tiered survey including the CDFS, AEGIS-XD, COSMOS, and XMM-XXL fields. The spectra of individual X-ray sources are analyzed using a Bayesian methodology with a physically realistic model to infer the posterior distribution of the hydrogen column density and intrinsic X-ray luminosity. We develop a novel non-parametric method that allows us to robustly infer the distribution of the AGN population in X-ray luminosity, redshift, and obscuring column density, relying only on minimal smoothness assumptions. Our analysis properly incorporates uncertainties from low count spectra, photometric redshift measurements, association incompleteness, and the limited sample size. We find that obscured AGNs with N _H > 10²² cm^–2 account for ${77}_{-<!--\; ???\; -->5}^{+4}\mathrm{\%<!--\; \%\; -->}$ of the number density and luminosity density of the accretion supermassive black hole population with L _X > 10⁴³ erg s^–1, averaged over cosmic time. Compton-thick AGNs account for approximately half the number and luminosity density of the obscured population, and ${38}_{-<!--\; ???\; -->7}^{+8}\mathrm{\%<!--\; \%\; -->}$ of the total. We also find evidence that the evolution is obscuration dependent, with the strongest evolution around N _H ≈ 10²³ cm^–2. We highlight this by measuring the obscured fraction in Compton-thin AGNs, which increases toward z ∼ 3, where it is 25% higher than the local value. In contrast, the fraction of Compton-thick AGNs is consistent with being constant at ≈35%, independent of redshift and accretion luminosity. We discuss our findings in the context of existing models and conclude that the observed evolution is, to first order, a side effect of anti-hierarchical growth.

[en] We measure the clustering of nonquasar X-ray active galactic nucleus (AGN) at z = 0.7-1.4 in the AEGIS field. Using the cross-correlation of 113 Chandra-selected AGN, with a median log L _X = 42.8 erg s^-1, with ∼5000 DEEP2 galaxies, we find that the X-ray AGNs are fitted by a power law with a clustering scale length of r₀ = 5.95 ± 0.90 h ^-1 Mpc and slope γ = 1.66 ± 0.22. X-ray AGNs have a similar clustering amplitude as red, quiescent and 'green' transition galaxies at z ∼ 1 and are significantly more clustered than blue, star-forming galaxies. The X-ray AGN clustering strength is primarily determined by the host galaxy color; AGNs in red host galaxies are significantly more clustered than AGNs in blue host galaxies, with a relative bias that is similar to that of red to blue DEEP2 galaxies. We detect no dependence of clustering on optical brightness, X-ray luminosity, or hardness ratio within the ranges probed here. We find evidence for galaxies hosting X-ray AGN to be more clustered than a sample of galaxies with matching joint optical color and magnitude distributions. This implies that galaxies hosting X-ray AGN are more likely to reside in groups and more massive dark matter halos than galaxies of the same color and luminosity without an X-ray AGN. In comparison to optically selected quasars in the DEEP2 fields, we find that X-ray AGNs at z ∼ 1 are more clustered than optically selected quasars (with a 2.6σ significance) and therefore may reside in more massive dark matter halos. Our results are consistent with galaxies undergoing a quasar phase while in the blue cloud before settling on the red sequence with a lower-luminosity X-ray AGN, if they are similar objects at different evolutionary stages.

[en] The XMM-RM project was designed to provide X-ray coverage of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping (SDSS-RM) field. Forty-one XMM-Newton exposures, placed surrounding the Chandra AEGIS field, were taken, covering an area of 6.13 deg² and reaching a nominal exposure depth of ∼15 ks. We present an X-ray catalog of 3553 sources detected in these data, using a PSF-fitting algorithm and a sample selection threshold that produces a ∼5% fraction of spurious sources. In addition to the PSF-fitting likelihood, we calculate a second source reliability measure based on Poisson theory using source and background counts within an aperture. Using the Poissonian likelihood, we select a subsample with a high purity and find that it has number count profiles similar to previous X-ray surveys. The Bayesian method “NWAY” was employed to identify counterparts of the X-ray sources from the optical Legacy and the IR unWISE catalogs, using a two-dimensional unWISE magnitude–color prior created from optical/IR counterparts of Chandra X-ray sources. A significant number of the optical/IR counterparts correspond to sources with low detection likelihoods, proving the value of retaining the low-likelihood detections in the catalog. A total of 932 of the XMM-RM sources are covered by SDSS spectroscopic observations, where 89% of them are classified as active galactic nuclei, and 71% of these active galactic nuclei are in the SDSS-RM quasar catalog. Among the SDSS-RM quasars, 80% are detectable at the depth of the XMM observations.

[en] We present photometric redshifts and associated probability distributions for all detected sources in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (ECDFS). This work makes use of the most up-to-date data from the Cosmic Assembly Near-IR Deep Legacy Survey (CANDELS) and the Taiwan ECDFS Near-Infrared Survey (TENIS) in addition to other data. We also revisit multi-wavelength counterparts for published X-ray sources from the 4 Ms CDFS and 250 ks ECDFS surveys, finding reliable counterparts for 1207 out of 1259 sources (∼96%). Data used for photometric redshifts include intermediate-band photometry deblended using the TFIT method, which is used for the first time in this work. Photometric redshifts for X-ray source counterparts are based on a new library of active galactic nuclei/galaxy hybrid templates appropriate for the faint X-ray population in the CDFS. Photometric redshift accuracy for normal galaxies is 0.010 and for X-ray sources is 0.014 and outlier fractions are 4% and 5.2%, respectively. The results within the CANDELS coverage area are even better, as demonstrated both by spectroscopic comparison and by galaxy-pair statistics. Intermediate-band photometry, even if shallow, is valuable when combined with deep broadband photometry. For best accuracy, templates must include emission lines.

[en] The uncertain origin of the recently discovered “changing-look” quasar phenomenon—in which a luminous quasar dims significantly to a quiescent state in repeat spectroscopy over ∼10-year timescales—may present unexpected challenges to our understanding of quasar accretion. To better understand this phenomenon, we take a first step toward building a sample of changing-look quasars with a systematic but simple archival search for these objects in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 12. By leveraging the >10-year baselines for objects with repeat spectroscopy, we uncover two new changing-look quasars and a third discovered previously. Decomposition of the multiepoch spectra and analysis of the broad emission lines suggest that the quasar accretion disk emission dims because of rapidly decreasing accretion rates (by factors of ≳2.5), while disfavoring changes in intrinsic dust extinction for the two objects where these analyses are possible. Broad emission line energetics also support intrinsic dimming of quasar emission as the origin for this phenomenon rather than transient tidal disruption events or supernovae. Although our search criteria included quasars at all redshifts and transitions from either quasar-like to galaxy-like states or the reverse, all of the clear cases of changing-look quasars discovered were at relatively low redshift ($z\sim <!--\; ???\; -->0.2\text{--}0.3$) and only exhibit quasar-like to galaxy-like transitions.

[en] We examine the fraction of massive ($M_{\ast <!--\; ???\; -->}><!--\; >\; -->{10}^{10}{M}_{\odot <!--\; ???\; -->}$) compact star-forming galaxies (cSFGs) that host an active galactic nucleus (AGN) at $z\sim <!--\; ???\; -->2$. These cSFGs are likely the direct progenitors of the compact quiescent galaxies observed at this epoch, which are the first population of passive galaxies to appear in large numbers in the early Universe. We identify cSFGs that host an AGN using a combination of Hubble WFC3 imaging and Chandra X-ray observations in four fields: the Chandra Deep Fields, the Extended Groth Strip, and the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey field. We find that ${39.2}_{-<!--\; ???\; -->3.6}^{+3.9}\mathrm{\%<!--\; \%\; -->}$ (65/166) of cSFGs at $1.4<<!--\; <\; -->z<<!--\; <\; -->3.0$ host an X-ray detected AGN. This fraction is 3.2 times higher than the incidence of AGN in extended star-forming galaxies with similar masses at these redshifts. This difference is significant at the $6.2\mathrm{\sigma <!--\; ??\; -->}$ level. Our results are consistent with models in which cSFGs are formed through a dissipative contraction that triggers a compact starburst and concurrent growth of the central black hole. We also discuss our findings in the context of cosmological galaxy evolution simulations that require feedback energy to rapidly quench cSFGs. We show that the AGN fraction peaks precisely where energy injection is needed to reproduce the decline in the number density of cSFGs with redshift. Our results suggest that the first abundant population of massive quenched galaxies emerged directly following a phase of elevated supermassive black hole growth and further hints at a possible connection between AGN and the rapid quenching of star formation in these galaxies.

[en] We develop a new diagnostic method to classify galaxies into active galactic nucleus (AGN) hosts, star-forming galaxies, and absorption-dominated galaxies by combining the [O III]/Hβ ratio with rest-frame U - B color. This can be used to robustly select AGNs in galaxy samples at intermediate redshifts (z < 1). We compare the result of this optical AGN selection with X-ray selection using a sample of 3150 galaxies with 0.3 < z < 0.8 and I_AB < 22, selected from the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey and the All-wavelength Extended Groth Strip International Survey. Among the 146 X-ray sources in this sample, 58% are classified optically as emission-line AGNs, the rest as star-forming galaxies or absorption-dominated galaxies. The latter are also known as 'X-ray bright, optically normal galaxies' (XBONGs). Analysis of the relationship between optical emission lines and X-ray properties shows that the completeness of optical AGN selection suffers from dependence on the star formation rate and the quality of observed spectra. It also shows that XBONGs do not appear to be a physically distinct population from other X-ray detected, emission-line AGNs. On the other hand, X-ray AGN selection also has strong bias. About 2/3 of all emission-line AGNs at L_bol > 10⁴⁴ erg s^-1 in our sample are not detected in our 200 ks Chandra images, most likely due to moderate or heavy absorption by gas near the AGN. The 2-7 keV detection rate of Seyfert 2s at z ∼ 0.6 suggests that their column density distribution and Compton-thick fraction are similar to that of local Seyferts. Multiple sample selection techniques are needed to obtain as complete a sample as possible.