Speaker
Description
Heavily obscured AGN in the early universe are an important population that represent an early, violent growth phase of SMBHs and their host spheroidal components. We performed a MIPS 24um search for z>3 heavily obscured AGN in the XMM-LSS and COSMOS fields, focusing on their strong rest-frame NIR emission originating from AGN hot dust. As a result of the selection, approximately 90% of the selected sources were not detected by the deep X-ray surveys in these fields. SED fitting analysis of all selected candidates revealed that the AGN bolometric luminosities reach log(L_bol)~46–48, indicating that they are heavily obscured and host SMBHs in a vigorous growth phase. The estimated cosmic SMBH growth rate, including heavily obscured AGN, significantly exceeds previous X-ray study estimates. In addition, current available archival JWST high-resolution images (COSMOS-Web, PRIMER) showed the diverse morphology of their hosts, particularly favoring clumpy structures. These results emphasize the critical role of obscuration in early SMBH growth and how next-generation wide-field surveys and multi-wavelength facilities can uncover these hidden populations, enhancing our understanding of the cosmic accretion history in the early universe.
