Exploring the spectral properties of faint hard X-ray sources with XMM-Newton

We present a spectroscopic study of 41 hard X-ray sources detected serendipitously with high significance (> 5 sigma in the 2-10 keV band) in seven EPIC performance/verification phase observations. The large collecting area of EPIC allows us to explore the spectral properties of these faint hard X-ray sources with 2< F_{2-10} < 80 x 10^{-14} erg cm^{-2}s^{-1} even though the length of the exposures are modest (~ 20 ks). Optical identifications are available for 21 sources of our sample. Using a simple power law plus Galactic absorption model we find an average value of the photon index Gamma ~ 1.6-1.7, broadly consistent with recent measurements made at similar fluxes with ASCA and with Chandra stacked spectral analyses. We find that 31 out of 41 sources are well fitted by this simple model and only eight sources require absorption in excess of the Galactic value. Interestingly enough, one third of these absorbed sources are broad line objects, though with moderate column densities. Two sources in the sample are X-ray bright optically quiet galaxies and show flat X-ray spectra. Comparing our observational results with those expected from standard synthesis models of the cosmic X-ray background (CXB) we find a fraction of unabsorbed to absorbed sources larger than predicted by theoretical models at our completeness limit of F_{2-10} ~ 5 x 10^{-14} erg cm^{-2}s^{-1}. The results presented here illustrate well how wide-angle surveys performed with EPIC on board XMM-Newton allow population studies of interesting and unusual sources to be made as well as enabling constraints to be placed on some input parameters for synthesis models of the CXB.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures. To be published in A&

The HELLAS2XMM Survey. XII. The infrared/sub-millimeter view of an X-ray selected Type 2 quasar at z=2

We present multi-wavelength observations (from optical to sub-millimeter, including Spitzer and SCUBA) of H2XMMJ 003357.2-120038 (also GD158_19), an X-ray selected, luminous narrow-line (Type 2) quasar at z=1.957 selected from the HELLAS2XMM survey. Its broad-band properties can be reasonably well modeled assuming three components: a stellar component to account for the optical and near-IR emission, an AGN component (i.e., dust heated by an accreting active nucleus), dominant in the mid-IR, with an optical depth at 9.7 micron along the line of sight (close to the equatorial plane of the obscuring matter) of tau(9.7)=1 and a full covering angle of the reprocessing matter (torus) of 140 degrees, and a far-IR starburst component (i.e., dust heated by star formation) to reproduce the wide bump observed longward of 70 micron. The derived star-formation rate is about 1500 solar masses per year. The overall modeling indicates that GD158_19 is a high-redshift X-ray luminous, obscured quasar with coeval powerful AGN activity and intense star formation. It is probably caught before the process of expelling the obscuring gas has started, thus quenching the star formation.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication by MNRA

The physics and the structure of the quasar-driven outflow in Mrk 231

Massive AGN-driven outflows are invoked by AGN-galaxy co-evolutionary models to suppress both star formation and black hole accretion. Massive molecular outflows have recently been revealed in some AGN hosts. However, the physical properties and structure of these AGN-driven molecular outflows are still poorly constrained. Here we present new IRAM PdBI observations of Mrk231, the closest quasar known, targeting both the CO(1-0) and CO(2-1) transitions. We detect broad wings in both transitions, tracing a massive molecular outflow with velocities up to 800 km/s. The wings are spatially resolved at high significance level (5-11 sigma), indicating that the molecular outflow extends on the kpc scale. The CO(2-1)/CO(1-0) ratio of the red broad wings is consistent with the ratio observed in the narrow core, while the blue broad wing is less excited than the core. The latter result suggests that quasar driven outflow models invoking shocks (which would predict higher gas excitation) are not appropriate to describe the bulk of the outflow in Mrk231. However, we note that within the central 700 pc the CO(2-1)/CO(1-0) ratio of the red wing is slightly, but significantly, higher than in the line core, suggesting that shocks may play a role in the central region. We also find that the average size of the outflow anticorrelates with the critical density of the transition used as a wind tracer. This indicates that, although diffuse and dense clumps coexist in the outflowing gas, dense outflowing clouds have shorter lifetime and that they evaporate into the diffuse component along the outflow or, more simply, that diffuse clouds are more efficiently accelerated to larger distances by radiation pressure.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Evidence of strong quasar feedback in the early Universe

Most theoretical models invoke quasar driven outflows to quench star formation in massive galaxies, this feedback mechanism is required to account for the population of old and passive galaxies observed in the local universe. The discovery of massive, old and passive galaxies at z=2, implies that such quasar feedback onto the host galaxy must have been at work very early on, close to the reionization epoch. We have observed the [CII]158um transition in SDSSJ114816.64+525150.3 that, at z=6.4189, is one of the most distant quasars known. We detect broad wings of the line tracing a quasar-driven massive outflow. This is the most distant massive outflow ever detected and is likely tracing the long sought quasar feedback, already at work in the early Universe. The outflow is marginally resolved on scales of about 16 kpc, implying that the outflow can really affect the whole galaxy, as required by quasar feedback models. The inferred outflow rate, dM/dt > 3500 Msun/yr, is the highest ever found. At this rate the outflow can clean the gas in the host galaxy, and therefore quench star formation, in a few million years.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter

Local Supermassive Black Holes, Relics of Active Galactic Nuclei and the X-ray Background

We quantify the importance of mass accretion during AGN phases in the growth of supermassive black holes (BH) by comparing the mass function of black holes in the local universe with that expected from AGN relics, which are black holes grown entirely with mass accretion during AGN phases. The local BH mass function (BHMF) is estimated by applying the well-known correlations between BH mass, bulge luminosity and stellar velocity dispersion to galaxy luminosity and velocity functions. The density of BH's in the local universe is 4.6 (-1.4; +1.9) (h/0.7)^2 10^5 Msun Mpc^-3. The relic BHMF is derived from the continuity equation with the only assumption that AGN activity is due to accretion onto massive BH's and that merging is not important. We find that the relic BHMF at z=0 is generated mainly at z<3. Moreover, the BH growth is anti-hierarchical in the sense that smaller BH's (MBH< 10^7 Msun) grow at lower redshifts (z<1) with respect to more massive one's (z~1-3). Unlike previous work, we find that the BHMF of AGN relics is perfectly consistent with the local BHMF indicating the local BH's were mainly grown during AGN activity. This agreement is obtained while satisfying, at the same time, the constraints imposed from the X-ray background. The comparison with the local BHMF also suggests that the merging process is not important in shaping the relic BHMF, at least at low redshifts (z<3). Our analysis thus suggests the following scenario: local black holes grew during AGN phases in which accreting matter was converted into radiation with efficiencies epsilon = 0.04-0.16 and emitted at a fraction lambda = 0.1-1.7 of the Eddington luminosity. The average total lifetime of these active phases ranges from ~4.5 10^8 yr for MBH 10^9 Msun. (abridged)Comment: 19 pages, 18 figures, MNRAS in press, minor changes following referee's comment

Revealing X-ray obscured quasars in SWIRE sources with extreme mid-IR/optical flux ratios

Recent works have suggested that selection criteria based on MIR colors can be used to reveal a population of dust-enshrouded, extremely luminous quasars at z>1. However the X-ray spectral properties of these intriguing sources still remain largely unexplored. We report on an X-ray spectroscopic study of a sample of 44 very bright mid-IR galaxies with extreme mid-IR to optical flux ratios (MIR/O>2000). The X-ray coverage of the sample is highly inhomogeneous (from snap-shot 5 ks Chandra observations to medium-deep XMM exposures of 70 ks) and, consequently, a sizable fraction of them (~43%) remains undetected in the 0.5-10 keV band. The vast majority (95%) of the detected sources (23) show an absorption column density NH>10e22 cm-2 and, remarkably, we also find that 50% of them can be classified as Type 2 quasars on the basis of their absorption properties and X-ray luminosity. Moreover, most of the X-ray undetected sources show extreme mid-IR colors, consistent with being luminous AGN-powered objects, suggesting they might host heavily obscured (possibly Compton-thick) quasars in X-rays. This demonstrates that our selection criteria applied to a wide area survey is very efficient in finding a large number of Type 2 quasars at z > 1. The existence of this class of very powerful, obscured quasars at high z could have important implications in the context of the formation and cosmological evolution of accreting supermassive black holes and their host galaxies.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics (2009A&A, 498, 67L

The anti-hierarchical growth of supermassive black holes

I present a new method to unveil the history of cosmic accretion and the build-up of SMBH in the nuclei of galaxies, based on observations of the evolving radio and (hard) X-ray luminosity functions of AGN. The fundamental plane of black hole activity discovered by Merloni, Heinz & Di Matteo (2003) is used as a mass and accretion rate estimator. I adopt the local BH mass function as a boundary condition to integrate backwards in time the continuity equation for the SMBH evolution, neglecting the role of mergers. Under the most general assumption that accretion proceeds in a radiatively efficient way above a certain rate, and in a radiatively inefficient way below, the redshift evolution of the mass and accretion rate functions are calculated self-consistently. The only tunable parameters are the accretion efficiency and the critical ratio of the X-ray to Eddington luminosity at which the transition between accretion modes takes place. For fiducial values of these parameters, I found that half (85%) of the local BH mass density was accumulated at redshift z<1 (z<3), mostly in radiatively efficient episodes of accretion. The evolution of the BH mass function between z=0 and z~3 shows clear signs of an anti-hierarchical behaviour: while the majority of the most massive objects (M > 10^9) were already in place at z~3, lower mass ones mainly grew at progressively lower redshift. Also, the average accretion rate decreases with time. Consequently, sources in the radiatively inefficient regime of accretion only begin to dominate the comoving accretion energy density in the universe at z<1. I discuss the implications of these results for the efficiency of accretion onto SMBH, the quasars lifetimes and duty cycles and the history of AGN feedback in the form of mechanical energy output (abriged).Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures. Minor changes to sections 2 and 6. New figures and references added. MNRAS, accepte

Tracing the cosmological assembly of stars and supermassive black holes in galaxies

We examine possible phenomenological constraints for the joint evolution of supermassive black holes (SMBH) and their host spheroids. We compare all the available observational data on the redshift evolution of the total stellar mass and star formation rate density in the Universe with the mass and accretion rate density evolution of supermassive black holes, estimated from the hard X-ray selected luminosity function of quasars and active galactic nuclei (AGN) for a given radiative efficiency, \epsilon. We assume that the ratio of the stellar mass in spheroids to the black hole mass density evolves as (1+z)^{-\alpha}, while the ratio of the stellar mass in disks+irregulars to that in spheroids evolves as (1+z)^{-\beta}, and we derive constraints on \alpha, \beta and \epsilon. We find that \alpha>0 at the more than 4-sigma level, implying a larger black hole mass at higher redshift for a given spheroid stellar mass. The favored values for \beta are typically negative, suggesting that the fraction of stellar mass in spheroids decreases with increasing redshift. This is consistent with recent determinations that show that the mass density at high redshift is dominated by galaxies with irregular morphology. In agreement with earlier work, we constrain \epsilon to be between 0.04 and 0.11, depending on the exact value of the local SMBH mass density, but almost independently of \alpha and \beta.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS pink page

On the X-ray, optical emission line and black hole mass properties of local Seyfert galaxies

We investigate the relation between X-ray nuclear emission, optical emission line luminosities and black hole masses for a sample of 47 Seyfert galaxies. The sample, which has been selected from the Palomar optical spectroscopic survey of nearby galaxies (Ho, Filippenko & Sargent 1997), covers a wide range of nuclear powers, from L_{2-10 keV} ~ 10^{43} erg/s down to very low luminosities (L_{2-10 keV} ~ 10^{38} erg/s). Best available data from Chandra, XMM-Newton and, in a few cases, ASCA observations have been considered. Thanks to the good spatial resolution available from these observations and a proper modeling of the various spectral components, it has been possible to obtain accurate nuclear X-ray luminosities not contaminated by off-nuclear sources and/or diffuse emission. X-ray luminosities have then been corrected taking into account the likely candidate Compton thick sources, which are a high fraction (> 30%) among type 2 Seyferts in our sample. The main result of this study is that we confirm strong linear correlations between 2-10 keV, [OIII]\lambda5007, H_{alpha} luminosities which show the same slope as quasars and luminous Seyfert galaxies, independent of the level of nuclear activity displayed. Moreover, despite the wide range of Eddington ratios (L/L_{Edd}) tested here (six orders of magnitude, from 0.1 down to ~ 10^{-7}), no correlation is found between the X-ray or optical emission line luminosities and the black hole mass. Our results suggest that Seyfert nuclei in our sample are consistent with being a scaled-down version of more luminous AGN.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysic