Comoving space density of X-ray-selected active galactic nuclei

For measurement of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) luminosity function and its evolution, X-ray selection samples all types of AGNs and provides reduced obscuration bias in comparison with UV excess or optical surveys. The apparent decline in optically selected quasars above z ∼ 3 may be strongly affected by such a bias. The Chandra Multiwavelength Project (CHAMP) is characterizing serendipitously detected X-ray sources in a large number of fields with archival Chandra imaging. We present a preliminary measure of the comoving space density using a sample of 311 AGNs found in 23 CHAMP fields (∼1.8 deg²) supplemented with 57 X-ray-bright AGNs from the Chandra Deep Field-North and Chandra Deep Field-South. Within our X-ray flux (f_0.3-8.0keV > 4 × 10^-15 ergs cm^-2 s^-1) and optical magnitude (r′ < 22.5) limits, our sample includes 14 broad emission-line AGNs at z > 3. Using this X-ray-selected sample, we detect a turnover in the comoving space density of luminous type 1 AGNs (log L_X > 44.5 ergs s^-1, measured in the 0.3-8.0 keV band and corrected for Galactic absorption) at z > 2.5. Our X-ray sample is the first to show a behavior similar to the well-established evolution of the optical quasar luminosity function. A larger sample of high-redshift AGNs and with a greater fraction of identified sources, either spectroscopic or photometric, at faint optical magnitudes (r′ > 22.5) are required to remove the remaining uncertainty in our measure of the X-ray luminosity function, particularly given the possibility that AGNs might be more easily obscured optically at high redshift. We confirm that for z < 1, lower luminosity AGNs (log L_X < 44.5) are more prevalent by more than an order of magnitude than those with high luminosity. We have combined the Chandra sample with AGNs from the ROSAT surveys to present a measure of the space density of luminous type 1 AGNs in the soft X-ray band (0.5-2.0 keV) that confirms the broadband turnover described above.