The number-intensity distribution for extragalactic X-ray sources

It is shown that a self-consistent assessment of source count data can be made, if many of the deep survey sources are QSOs which are known to be evolving strongly at fluxes comparable to the survey limits. The QSO contribution would in this case become significant at X-ray fluxes below 10 to the -12th erg/sq cm per sec, and dominates at fluxes below 10 to the -13th erg/sq cm per sec. The X-ray background intensity places a limit on total source counts and requires a turnover in the evolution of X-ray emitting sources. Sources detected in the Einstein survey account for over 35% of the 1-3 keV background flux, suggesting that most of the background is due to discrete sources.