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The ultraviolet spectra of radio-loud and radio-quiet quasars
The rest-frame ultraviolet spectral properties of matched samples of radio-loud, radio-moderate, and
radio-quiet quasars are investigated, using quasars drawn from the Large Bright QSO Survey. We
confirm the absence of spectral differences between radio-loud and radio-quiet quasars at rest-frame
wavelengths longward of 1600 Ă, as reported by previous authors. However, at shorter wavelengths we
find a significant difference: radio-loud quasars have narrower (96% confidence), higher
equivalent-width (97% confidence) Lyman-a and C IV emission lines. We further investigate quasars
which are radio quiet, but have radio-to-optical flux ratios at the upper extreme of the radio-quiet
population. Broad absorption line quasars are overabundant by a factor of â10 in this radio-moderate
population; the overabundance is significant at a 99.99% confidence level.The LBQS is supported by National Science Foundation
Grant No. AST 90-01181, for which we are grateful. Peter
Strittmatter kindly made funds available for publication.
We also wish to thank Craig Foltz and Paul Hewett for
many helpful discussions. P.J.F. is supported by a SERC/
NATO advanced fellowship
Comparing Simulations and Observations of the Lyman-Alpha Forest I. Methodology
We describe techniques for comparing spectra extracted from cosmological
simulations and observational data, using the same methodology to link
Lyman-alpha properties derived from the simulations with properties derived
from observational data. The eventual goal is to measure the coherence or
clustering properties of Lyman-alpha absorbers using observations of quasar
pairs and groups. We quantify the systematic underestimate in opacity that is
inherent in the continuum fitting process of observed spectra over a range of
resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. We present an automated process for
detecting and selecting absorption features over the range of resolution and
signal-to-noise of typical observational data on the Lyman-alpha "forest".
Using these techniques, we detect coherence over transverse scales out to 500
h^{-1}_{50} kpc in spectra extracted from a cosmological simulation at z = 2.Comment: 52 pages, includes 14 figures, to appear in ApJ v566 Feb 200
The Flux Auto- and Cross-Correlation of the Lyman-alpha Forest. II. Modelling Anisotropies with Cosmological Hydrodynamic Simulations
The isotropy of the Lyman-alpha forest in real-space uniquely provides a
measurement of cosmic geometry at z > 2. The angular diameter distance for
which the correlation function along the line of sight and in the transverse
direction agree corresponds to the correct cosmological model. However, the
Lyman-alpha forest is observed in redshift-space where distortions due to
Hubble expansion, bulk flows, and thermal broadening introduce anisotropy.
Similarly, a spectrograph's line spread function affects the autocorrelation
and cross-correlation differently. In this the second paper of a series on
using the Lyman-alpha forest observed in pairs of QSOs for a new application of
the Alcock-Paczynski (AP) test, these anisotropies and related sources of
potential systematic error are investigated with cosmological hydrodynamic
simulations. Three prescriptions for galactic outflow were compared and found
to have only a marginal effect on the Lyman-alpha flux correlation (which
changed by at most 7% with use of the currently favored variable-momentum wind
model vs. no winds at all). An approximate solution for obtaining the zero-lag
cross-correlation corresponding to arbitrary spectral resolution directly from
the zero-lag cross-correlation computed at full-resolution (good to within 2%
at the scales of interest) is presented. Uncertainty in the observationally
determined mean flux decrement of the Lyman-alpha forest was found to be the
dominant source of systematic error; however, this is reduced significantly
when considering correlation ratios. We describe a simple scheme for
implementing our results, while mitigating systematic errors, in the context of
a future application of the AP test.Comment: 20 page
Lensed Quasar Hosts
Gravitational lensing assists in the detection of quasar hosts by amplifying
and distorting the host light away from the unresolved quasar core images. We
present the results of HST observations of 30 quasar hosts at redshifts 1 < z <
4.5. The hosts are small in size (r_e <~ 6 kpc), and span a range of
morphologies consistent with early-types (though smaller in mass) to
disky/late-type. The ratio of the black hole mass (MBH, from the virial
technique) to the bulge mass (M_bulge, from the stellar luminosity) at 1<z<1.7
is broadly consistent with the local value; while MBH/M_bulge at z>1.7 is a
factor of 3--6 higher than the local value. But, depending on the stellar
content the ratio may decline at z>4 (if E/S0-like), flatten off to 6--10 times
the local value (if Sbc-like), or continue to rise (if Im-like). We infer that
galaxy bulge masses must have grown by a factor of 3--6 over the redshift range
3>z>1, and then changed little since z~1. This suggests that the peak epoch of
galaxy formation for massive galaxies is above z~1. We also estimate the duty
cycle of luminous AGNs at z>1 to be ~1%, or 10^7 yrs, with sizable scatter.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, review article with C. Impey at the conference on
"QSO Host Galaxies: Evolution and Environment", Aug. 29-Sep. 2, 2005, Lorentz
Center, Leiden, The Netherland
The Ultraviolet Detection of Diffuse Gas in Galaxy Groups
A small survey of the UV-absorbing gas in 12 low- galaxy groups has been
conducted using the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on-board the Hubble Space
Telescope (HST). Targets were selected from a large, homogeneously-selected
sample of groups found in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). A critical
selection criterion excluded sight lines that pass close ( virial radii)
to a group galaxy, to ensure absorber association with the group as a whole.
Deeper galaxy redshift observations are used both to search for closer galaxies
and also to characterize these to groups, the
most massive of which are highly-virialized with numerous early-type galaxies
(ETGs). This sample also includes two spiral-rich groups, not yet
fully-virialized. At group-centric impact parameters of 0.3-2 Mpc, these
-30 spectra detected HI absorption in 7 of 12 groups; high
(OVI) and low (SiIII) ion metal lines are present in 2/3 of the absorption
components. None of the three most highly-virialized, ETG-dominated groups are
detected in absorption. Covering fractions % are seen at all impact
parameters probed, but do not require large filling factors despite an enormous
extent. Unlike halo clouds in individual galaxies, group absorbers have radial
velocities which are too low to escape the group potential well without doubt.
This suggests that these groups are "closed boxes" for galactic evolution in
the current epoch. Evidence is presented that the cool and warm group absorbers
are not a pervasive intra-group medium (IGrM), requiring a hotter (
to K) IGrM to be present to close the baryon accounting.Comment: Resubmitted to ApJS after first review; 82 pages (27 for main text,
rest are Appendices and supplemental figures and tables), 47 figures, 21
table
The Far-infrared Continuum of Quasars
ISO provides a key new far-infrared window through which to observe the
multi-wavelength spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of quasars and active
galactic nuclei (AGN). It allows us, for the first time, to observe a
substantial fraction of the quasar population in the far-IR, and to obtain
simultaneous, multi-wavelength observations from 5--200 microns. With these
data we can study the behavior of the IR continuum in comparison with
expectations from competing thermal and non-thermal models. A key to
determining which mechanism dominates, is the measurement of the peak
wavelength of the emission and the shape of the far-IR--mm turnover. Turnovers
which are steeper than frequency^2.5 indicate thermal dust emission in the
far-IR.
Preliminary results from our ISO data show broad, fairly smooth, IR continuum
emission with far-IR turnovers generally too steep to be explained by
non-thermal synchrotron emission. Assuming thermal emission throughout leads to
a wide inferred temperature range of 50-1000 K. The hotter material, often
called the AGN component, probably originates in dust close to and heated by
the central source, e.g. the ubiquitous molecular torus. The cooler emission is
too strong to be due purely to cool, host galaxy dust, and so indicates either
the presence of a starburst in addition to the AGN or AGN-heated dust covering
a wider range of temperatures than present in the standard, optically thick
torus models.Comment: 4 pages, to be published in the proceedings of "The Universe as Seen
by ISO," ed. M. Kessler. This and related papers can be found at
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~ehooper/ISOkp/ISOkp.htm
HI Properties of Low Luminosity Star-Forming Galaxies in the KPNO International Spectroscopic Survey
New HI observations are presented for a complete sample of 109 low luminosity
star-forming galaxies taken from the KPNO International Spectroscopic Survey
(KISS), the first CCD-based wide-field objective-prism survey for emission-line
galaxies. This sample consists of all star-forming galaxies with M_B > -18.0
and cz < 11,000 km/s from the first Halpha-selected survey list. Overall, 97
out of 109 galaxies have been detected in HI. We confirm the weak trend of
increasing gas richness with decreasing luminosity found by previous authors.
Gas richness is also shown to be weakly anti-correlated with metallicity. The
dependence of star formation rates (SFRs) and HI gas depletion timescales on
metallicity is examined. The median solar metallicity based SFR and gas
depletion timescale are 0.1639 M_sun/yr and 5 Gyrs, respectively. Corrections
for variations in metallicity decreases SFRs by about 0.5 dex and increases gas
depletion timescales by an average of about 8 Gyrs. The majority of galaxies in
this sample still have large reservoirs of HI gas, and despite their large
current star formation rates, could have formed stars in a quasi-continuous
manner for a Hubble time. Finally, we present the first HI mass function for
low luminosity star-forming galaxies and show that this subpopulation
contributes 10-15% of the overall HI density in the local universe. We conclude
that if the HI mass function of the Universe does indeed have a steeply rising
low-mass slope as suggested by previous authors, it is not due to the
population of low luminosity star-forming galaxies.Comment: 27 pages, 13 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in the
Astronomical Journa
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