Surveying the onset and evolution of supermassive black holes at high-z with AXIS

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${}^{\prime \prime }$ on-axis and minimal off-axis degradation, we have designed a deep survey capable of reaching flux limits in the [0.5-2] keV range of approximately 2$\times$10${}^{-18}$ \fcgs~ over an area of 0.13 deg${}^2$ in approximately 7 million seconds (7 Ms). Furthermore, we have planned an intermediate depth survey covering approximately 2 deg${}^2$ and reaching flux limits of about 2$\times$10${}^{-17}$ \fcgs ~ in order to detect a significant number of SMBHs with X-ray luminosities (L${}_X$) of approximately 10${}^{42}$ \lx up to z$\sim$10. These observations will enable AXIS to detect SMBHs with masses smaller than 10${}^5$ \ms, 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 SMBH, allowing for more accurate constraints on their initial mass function (IMF) and accretion history from z$\sim$0-10. To accomplish this, AXIS will leverage the unique synergy of survey telescopes such as JWST, Roman, Euclid, LSST, and the new generation of 30m 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 in the early Universe.

arXiv commentThis White Paper is part of a series commissioned for the AXIS Probe Concept Mission. This White Paper is part of a series commissioned for the AXIS Probe Concept Mission; additional AXIS White Papers can be found at http://axis.astro.umd.edu with a mission overview at arXiv:2311.00780

References in corpus (57)

• The EAGLE project: Simulating the evolution and assembly of galaxies and their environments
• LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products
• Simulating Galaxy Formation with the IllustrisTNG Model
• A luminous quasar at a redshift of z = 7.085
• In the Beginning: The First Sources of Light and the Reionization of the Universe
• Simba: Cosmological Simulations with Black Hole Growth and Feedback
• Introducing the Illustris Project: the evolution of galaxy populations across cosmic time
• The synthesis of the cosmic X-ray background in the Chandra and XMM-Newton era
• Formation of Supermassive Black Holes by Direct Collapse in Pregalactic Halos
• Formation of Supermassive Black Holes
• The Chandra Deep Field-South Survey: 7 Ms Source Catalogs
• CEERS Key Paper I: An Early Look into the First 500 Myr of Galaxy Formation with JWST
• The Chandra COSMOS Legacy survey: overview and point source catalog
• The Horizon-AGN simulation: morphological diversity of galaxies promoted by AGN feedback
• Supermassive black hole formation during the assembly of pre-galactic discs
• A Luminous Quasar at Redshift 7.642
• Two Remarkably Luminous Galaxy Candidates at $z\approx 10-12$ Revealed by JWST
• The XMM-Newton serendipitous survey IX. The fourth XMM-Newton serendipitous source catalogue
• A CEERS Discovery of an Accreting Supermassive Black Hole 570 Myr after the Big Bang: Identifying a Progenitor of Massive z > 6 Quasars
• Black hole variability and the star formation-AGN connection: Do all star-forming galaxies host an AGN?
• Universal bolometric corrections for AGN over 7 luminosity decades
• The Space Density of Compton Thick AGN and the X-ray Background
• Discovery and properties of ultra-high redshift galaxies ($9<z<12$) in the JWST ERO SMACS 0723 Field
• Dissecting Photometric redshift for Active Galactic Nuclei using XMM- and Chandra-COSMOS samples
• JWST CEERS & JADES Active Galaxies at z = 4-7 Violate the Local $M_{\bullet }-M_{\star }$ Relation at $>3\sigma$: Implications for Low-Mass Black Holes and Seeding Models
• Finding counterparts for All-sky X-ray surveys with Nway: a Bayesian algorithm for cross-matching multiple catalogues
• High-redshift AGN in the Chandra Deep Fields: the obscured fraction and space density of the sub-$L_{\ast }$ population
• The Observational Signatures of Supermassive Black Hole Seeds
• Massive Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter and their detection with Gravitational Waves
• Current Performance and On-Going Improvements of the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope
• Discovery of eight z ~ 6 quasars from Pan-STARRS1
• Unveiling the first black holes with JWST: multi-wavelength spectral predictions
• The NuSTAR View of Nearby Compton-thick AGN: The Cases of NGC 424, NGC 1320 and IC 2560
• SIXTE -- The Generic X-ray Instrument Simulation Toolkit
• The X-ray properties of $z>6$ quasars: no evident evolution of accretion physics in the first Gyr of the Universe
• The Hard X-Ray Luminosity Function of High-Redshift ($3<z\lesssim 5$) Active Galactic Nuclei
• CEERS Key Paper VI: JWST/MIRI Uncovers a Large Population of Obscured AGN at High Redshifts
• AGN Selection and Demographics: A New Age with JWST/MIRI
• Shining in the Dark: the Spectral Evolution of the First Black Holes
• Euclid preparation: V. Predicted yield of redshift 7<z<9 quasars from the wide survey
• Overview of the Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS)
• Conditions for Optimal Growth of Black Hole Seeds
• Supermassive black holes in cosmological simulations II: the AGN population and predictions for upcoming X-ray missions
• AGN Populations in Large Volume X-ray Surveys: Photometric Redshifts and Population Types found in the Stripe 82X Survey
• Exploring the high-redshift PBH-$\Lambda$CDM Universe: early black hole seeding, the first stars and cosmic radiation backgrounds
• The Swift/BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey -- IX. The Clustering Environments of an Unbiased Sample of Local AGN
• On the cosmic evolution of AGN obscuration and the X-ray luminosity function: XMM-Newton and Chandra spectral analysis of the 31.3 deg${}^2$ Stripe 82X
• EPOCHS VII: Discovery of high redshift ($6.5<z<12$) AGN candidates in JWST ERO and PEARLS data
• Mock catalogs for the extragalactic X-ray sky: simulating AGN surveys with Athena and with the AXIS probe
• Chasing the observational signatures of seed black holes at z > 7: candidate observability
• Chasing the observational signatures of seed black holes at z > 7: candidate statistics
• HYPerluminous quasars at the Epoch of ReionizatION (HYPERION). A new regime for the X-ray nuclear properties of the first quasars
• Probing the Structure and Evolution of BASS AGN through Eddington Ratios
• Identifying Direct Collapse Black Hole Seeds through their Small Host Galaxies
• The Clustering of X-ray Luminous Quasars
• Multi-line assessment of narrow-line regions in $z\sim$ 3 radio galaxies
• Detecting the Birth of Supermassive Black Holes Formed from Heavy Seeds

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Mildly Super-Eddington Accretion Onto Slowly-Spinning Black Holes Explains the X-Ray Weakness of the Little Red Dots
• HYPERION. Shedding light on the first luminous quasars: A correlation between UV disc winds and X-ray continuum
• Intervening nuclear obscuration changing the X-ray look of the $z\approx 6$ QSO CFHQS J164121+375520