First Results from the 7 Ms Chandra Deep Field-South Survey: A Good Hard Look at Growing Supermassive Black Holes in the Distant Universe

Sensitive cosmic X-ray surveys with the Chandra, XMM-Newton, and now NuSTAR observatories have revolutionized our ability to find and study distant active galactic nuclei (AGNs), the main sites of supermassive black hole growth in the Universe. I will describe some recent discoveries about the demographics, physics, and ecology of distant AGNs coming from the deepest Chandra survey to date, the 7 Ms Chandra Deep Field-South. Some specific topics covered will include (1) robust X-ray spectral and variability characterization of the AGNs producing most of cosmic accretion power; (2) the demographics of AGNs in the first galaxies as revealed by direct detection and stacking; and (3) AGN/galaxy interactions as investigated via the host properties of X-ray AGNs. I will also briefly describe other remarkable discoveries coming from this survey; e.g., measurements of the evolving X-ray binary populations of normal and starburst galaxies.