LEADER 03489oam 2200505 450 001 996466738503316 005 20210530221203.0 010 $a3-030-60361-X 024 7 $a10.1007/978-3-030-60361-8 035 $a(CKB)4100000011631540 035 $a(DE-He213)978-3-030-60361-8 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC6419855 035 $a(PPN)252515749 035 $a(EXLCZ)994100000011631540 100 $a20210530d2021 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurnn|008mamaa 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 14$aThe accretion and obscured growth of supermassive black holes $efirst constraints on the local heavily obscured agn fraction with nustar /$fPeter Boorman 205 $a1st ed. 2021. 210 1$aCham, Switzerland :$cSpringer,$d[2021] 210 4$d©2021 215 $a1 online resource (XXIV, 311 p. 208 illus., 130 illus. in color.) 225 1 $aSpringer Theses, Recognizing Outstanding Ph.D. Research,$x2190-5053 311 $a3-030-60360-1 327 $aIntroduction -- IC 3639 ? A New Bona Fide Compton-thick AGN Unveiled by NuSTAR -- An Iwasawa-Taniguchi Effect for Compton-thick Active Galactic Nuclei -- The NuSTAR Local AGN NH Distribution Survey: Prospects for Mitigating Obscuration Bias in Local AGN Selection -- The NuLANDS NH Distribution -- Summary, Conclusions & Outlook. 330 $aThis thesis describes the application of state-of-the-art high-energy X-ray studies to the astronomical quest for understanding obscured active galactic nuclei (AGN). These AGN are supermassive black holes growing by accretion of matter located in the nuclei of galaxies. The material that feeds these black holes also obscures them from view, rendering them challenging to study. It is possible to study them by effectively 'X-raying' galactic nuclei to peer through these obscuring veils. Beginning with the proof-of-concept application of novel X-ray Monte Carlo codes to the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope ARray (NuSTAR) spectrum of a known heavily obscured AGN, the thesis establishes the relevant parameters that characterise the AGN spectrum and central black hole growth rate. Next the largest sample of known heavily obscured AGN is compiled, finding the strength of a prominent iron spectral feature to weaken with AGN power. This is puzzling, and suggests that there may be more hidden AGN than previously thought. Finally by combining an all-sky infrared selection with NuSTAR follow-up, new heavily obscured AGN are identified. Obscuration emits infrared radiation, meaning that the infrared-selected AGN catalogue should be representative of the underlying AGN population. The absence of such representative catalogues has continually plagued cosmological studies, and the resultant obscured AGN fraction will be strongly constraining for AGN models. 410 0$aSpringer Theses, Recognizing Outstanding Ph.D. Research,$x2190-5053 606 $aAstronomy$vObservations 606 $aGravitation 606 $aClassical and Quantum Gravitation, Relativity Theory 615 0$aAstronomy 615 0$aGravitation. 615 0$aClassical and Quantum Gravitation, Relativity Theory. 676 $a523.112 700 $aBoorman$b Peter$01074150 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bUtOrBLW 906 $aBOOK 912 $a996466738503316 996 $aThe accretion and obscured growth of supermassive black holes$92571544 997 $aUNISA