Infrared Surveys for AGN

Abstract

From the earliest extragalactic infrared studies AGN have shown themselves to be strong infrared sources and IR surveys have revealed new populations of AGN. I briefly review current motivations for AGN surveys in the infrared and results from previous IR surveys. The Luminous Infrared Galaxies, which in some cases house dust-enshrouded AGN, submillimeter surveys, and recent studies of the cosmic x-ray and infrared backgrounds suggest that there is a population of highly-obscured AGN at high redshift. ISO Surveys have begun to resolve the infrared background and may have detected this obscured AGN population. New infrared surveys, particularly the SIRTF Wide-area Infrared Extragalactic Legacy Survey (SWIRE), will detect this population and provide a platform for understanding the evolution of AGN, Starbursts and passively evolving galaxies in the context of large-scale structure and environment.

10 pages, 2 figures, to appear in IAU Colloquium 184: AGN Surveys