[Surveys -- Invited ]
Supermassive Black Hole Growth Over Cosmic Time: X-ray Constraints
on the Demographics and Physics of Active Galaxies
William Brandt, Penn State University
Extragalactic X-ray surveys over the past decade have dramatically
improved our understanding of how the majority populations of active
galactic nuclei (AGNs) evolve over most of the history of the Universe.
I will describe some of these exciting results, drawing from the findings
of both deep and wide surveys. Topics covered will include (1) the
utility and limitations of X-ray surveys for finding distant AGNs; (2)
constraints upon the most heavily obscured AGNs in the distant universe;
(3) the cosmic evolution of AGN spectral energy distributions and
accretion processes; and (4) the AGN content of forming galaxies at high
redshifts. I will also discuss some key outstanding problems and prospects
for short-term and long-term advances.