Speaker
Description
X-ray surveys of AGN provide direct constraints on the properties of individual AGN, such as their accretion, reflection, and obscuration. Previous AGN population synthesis models have not addressed such constraints self-consistently. Here we use a simulation-based inference (SBI) approach to constrain the geometrical and physical properties of the AGN population. We perform numerical simulations with our ray-tracing code, RefleX, which allows the self-consistent modelling of the X-ray emission of AGN with flexible circumnuclear and source geometries. We create our synthetic population by sampling the black hole mass function and Eddington ratio distribution function of local AGN and constructing the radiation-regulated unification model. Using the RefleX-simulated emission of the AGN population, we attempt to simultaneously reproduce several observed properties of Swift/BAT detected AGN, such as the N$\mathrm{_H}$ distribution, the fraction of obscured AGN as a function of Eddington ratio, and their logN – logS. With this approach, we can test the consistency of the radiation-regulated model in the local Universe with the most comprehensive set of X-ray observables, while constraining the size and density of the dusty torus.
