Unveiling and weighting Super Massive Black Holes at cosmological distances

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Marcella Brusa
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2009 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 127077797

Understanding how galaxies formed and how they became the complex systems we observe in the local Universe is one of the outstanding problems of modern astronomy, mainly pursued using large and deep multi-wavelength surveys. A full picture of galaxy evolution requires a good knowledge of how their active nuclei (AGN) evolve through cosmic time, given the observed tight scaling relations between black holes and host galaxies in the local Universe. Here we propose to study the evolution of supermassive black holes (SMBH) within two survey fields which are among the best studied across the entire electromagnetic spectrum: the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS) and COSMOS. Our program is structured in two complementary projects aimed at: (1) completing the census of SMBH, searching for the most obscured, Compton Thick, AGN population through a combined mid infrared and X-ray selection; and (2) measuring BH masses and accretion rates for a large (several hundreds) sample of X-ray selected AGN at cosmological distances, through the comparison and cross calibration of different estimators. Combining the results, we will obtain physical properties of a large, unbiased sample of both obscured and un-obscured AGN, allowing us to search for systematical changes in the observed scaling relations between BH masses and host galaxies properties. Our ultimate goal is to provide a suite of observational tests for the various models for the cosmological evolution of the SMBH population. As a by-product of our research, we will define optimal strategies for unveiling and weighting SMBH with the next generation of up-coming X-ray satellites, with particular enphasis on the eROSITA mission.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1177: Witnesses of Cosmic History: Formation and Evolution of Black Holes, Galaxies and Their Environments
• Participating Person: Professor Andrea Merloni, Ph.D.