Description
Steep X-ray spectra in active galactic nuclei (AGN) are widely interpreted as a signature of high accretion rates, a claim gaining renewed relevance in light of the JWST discoveries of X-ray-weak AGN at high redshift. Are these primeval objects accreting near or beyond the Eddington limit? To address this, we analyzed the X-ray emission of a large AGN sample from the latest Sloan Digital Sky Survey release. We find that the correlation between X-ray photon indices and accretion rate is surprisingly weak and strongly dependent on the choice of accretion rate proxy. We conclude that, while high accretion rates may contribute to spectral steepening, another physical driver must account for the observed spread in AGN photon indices.