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We combine deep X-ray survey data from the Chandra observatory and the wide-area/shallow XMM-XXL field to estimate the active galactic nuclei (AGN) X-ray luminosity function in the redshift range z = 3-5. The sample consists of nearly 340 sources with either photometric (212) or spectroscopic (128) redshift in the above range. The combination of deep and shallow survey fields also provides a luminosity baseline of three orders of magnitude, L X (2-10 keV) 10 43 -10 46 erg s -1 at z > 3. We follow a Bayesian approach to determine the binned AGN space density and explore their evolution in a model-independent way. Our methodology properly accounts for Poisson errors in the determination of X-ray fluxes and uncertainties in photometric redshift estimates. We demonstrate that the latter is essential for unbiased measurement of space densities. We find that the AGN X-ray luminosity function evolves strongly between the redshift intervals z = 3-4 and z = 4-5. There is also suggestive evidence that the amplitude of this evolution is luminosity dependent. The space density of AGN with L X (2-10 keV) 10 45 erg s -1 . At fainter luminosities X-ray surveys measure higher AGN space densities. The faint-end slope of UV/optical luminosity functions, however, is steeper than for X-ray selected AGN. This implies that the Type I AGN fraction increases with decreasing luminosity at z > 3, opposite to trends established at lower redshift. We also assess the significance of AGN in keeping the hydrogen ionized at high redshift. Our X-ray luminosity function yields ionizing photon rate densities that are insufficient to keep the Universe ionized at redshift z > 4. A source of uncertainty in this calculation is the escape fraction of UV photons for X-ray selected AGN.
Georgakakis et al. (Wed,) studied this question.