Observational constraints on the specific accretion-rate distribution of X-ray selected AGN

Understand

This paper estimates the specific accretion-rate distribution of AGN using a sample of 4821 X-ray sources from both deep and shallow surveys.

• The specific accretion-rate distribution is defined as the probability of a galaxy with a given stellar mass and redshift hosting an active nucleus with a certain specific accretion rate.
• We find that the probability of a galaxy hosting an AGN increases with decreasing specific accretion rate.
• There is evidence that this trend reverses at low specific accretion rates, $\lambda<10^{-4}-10^{-3}$ (in Eddington units).