The X-ray rise of primeval titans: HYPerluminous quasars at the Epoch of ReionizatION (HYPERION)

The outstanding mass growth of the Supermassive Black Holes powering
luminous quasars at the Epoch of Reionization (EoR, z > 6) is one of
the most debated open problems of modern extragalactic
astrophysics. These quasars are current targets of extensive
multiwavelength campaigns with todays flagship observatories, in order
to understand their properties. The limited sensitivity of current
X-ray observatories, however, has so far provided mostly low quality
spectra (< 10 − 15 counts; 0.5-10 keV) and therefore a poor
characterization of their nuclear properties. I will present HYPERION,
a 2.4 Ms Multi-Year Heritage XMM programme on the titans among z = 6 −
7.5 quasars (i.e. the most luminous/massive at their epoch) designed
to dramatically improve the X-ray data quality to 100 counts for a
sample of 15 sources. HYPERION will deliver unprecedented constraints
on their nuclear properties, accretion, ejection, disc/corona complex,
and, while perfectly complementing observations at other wavelengths,
will enable X-ray spectroscopic population studies at EoR to begin.