XXL-HSC: An updated catalogue of high-redshift (z ≥ 3.5) X-ray AGN in the XMM-XXL northern field. Constraints on the bright end of the soft log N-log S

X-rays offer a reliable method to identify active galactic nuclei (AGNs). However, in the high-redshift Universe, X-ray AGNs are poorly sampled due to their relatively low space density and the small areas covered by X-ray surveys. In addition to wide-area X-ray surveys, it is important to have deep optical data in order to locate the optical counterparts and determine their redshifts. In this work, we built a high-redshift (z ≥ 3.5) X-ray-selected AGN sample in the XMM-XXL northern field using the most updated [0.5-2 keV] catalogue along with a plethora of new spectroscopic and multi-wavelength catalogues, including the deep optical Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) data, reaching magnitude limits i ∼ 26 mag. We selected all the spectroscopically confirmed AGN and complement this sample with high-redshift candidates that are HSC g- and r-band dropouts. To confirm the dropouts, we derived their photometric redshifts using spectral energy distribution techniques. We obtained a sample of 54 high-z sources (28 with spec-z), the largest in this field so far (almost three times larger than in previous studies), and we estimated the possible contamination and completeness. We calculated the number counts (log N-log S) in different redshift bins and compared our results with previous studies and models. We provide the strongest high-redshift AGN constraints yet at bright fluxes (f_{0.5 − 2 keV} > 10⁻¹⁵ erg s⁻¹ cm⁻²). The samples of z ≥ 3.5, z ≥ 4, and z ≥ 5 are in agreement with an exponential decline model similar to that witnessed at optical wavelengths. Our work emphasises the importance of using wide-area X-ray surveys with deep optical data to uncover high-redshift AGNs.

Based on observations obtained with XMM-Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA member states and NASA.