Study of the spectral energy distributions and variability of a large X-ray selected sample of AGN

Lead Research Organisation: Durham University
Department Name: Physics

Abstract

Building on three previous successful PhD projects, this work will very substantially increase the sample size of AGN
(to over 700). Thereby it will be possible, for the first time, to investigate the importance of key physical parameters
such as Eddington ratio and black hole spin, on the observed multi-frequency spectral energy distributions. In addition, and
complementary to this, the student will use variability properties to constrain the emission mechanisms involved. The outcomes of these studies will be interpreted in the context of state-of-the-art accretion disc models developed here in
Durham. It is anticipated that proposals to obtain new observations of selected AGN from the sample will be made to both
satellite facilities eg. the Hubble and XMM-Newton, and to large ground based telescopes such as the VLT and the Gemini 8m's,
to which we have access by virtue of existing collaborations.

Publications

10 25 50

Studentship Projects

Project Reference Relationship Related To Start End Student Name
ST/S505365/1 30/09/2018 29/09/2022
2114198 Studentship ST/S505365/1 30/09/2018 29/09/2022 Jake Mitchell