Wide Area X‐ray Surveys for AGN and Starburst Galaxies

Abstract

While often the point sources in X‐ray surveys are dominated by AGN, with the high sensitivity of modern X‐ray telescopes such as Chandra and XMM‐Newton normal/starburst galaxies are also being detected in large numbers. We have made use of Bayesian statistics for both the selection of galaxies from deep X‐ray surveys and in the analysis of the luminosity functions for galaxies. These techniques can be used to similarly select galaxies from wide‐area X‐ray surveys and to analyze their luminosity function. The prospects for detecting galaxies and AGN from a proposed “wide‐deep” XMM‐Newton survey and from future wide‐area X‐ray survey missions (such as WFXT and eRosita) are also discussed.