Quasars: from the Physics of Line Formation to Cosmology

Quasars accreting matter at very high rates (known as extreme Population A [xA] or super-Eddington accreting massive black holes) provide a new class of distance indicators covering cosmic epochs from the present-day Universe up to less than 1 Gyr from the Big Bang. The very high accretion rate makes it possible that massive black holes hosted in xA quasars radiate at a stable, extreme luminosity-to-mass ratio. This in turns translates into stable physical and dynamical conditions of the mildly ionized gas in the quasar low-ionization line emitting region. In this contribution, we analyze the main optical and UV spectral properties of extreme Population A quasars that make them easily identifiable in large spectroscopic surveys at low-z (z < 1) and intermediate-z (2 < z < 2.6), and the physical conditions that are derived for the formation of their emission lines. Ultimately, the analysis supports the possibility of identifying a virial broadening estimator from low-ionization line widths, and the conceptual validity of the redshift-independent luminosity estimates based on virial broadening for a known luminosity-to-mass ratio.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures. Invited lecture at SPIG 2018, Belgrade. To appear in Ato

HE0359-3959: an extremely radiating quasar

We present a multiwavelength spectral study of the quasar HE0359-3959, which has been identified as an extreme radiating source at intermediate redshift (z=1.5209). Along the spectral range, the different ionic species give information about the substructures in the broad line region. The presence of a powerful outflow with an extreme blueshifted velocity of $\sim$-6000$\pm$500 km s$^{-1}$ is shown in the CIV{\lambda}1549 emission line. A prominent blueshifted component is also associated with the 1900{\AA} blend, resembling the one observed in CIV{\lambda}1549. We detect a strong contribution of very the low-ionization lines, FeII and Near-Infrared CaII triplet. We find that the physical conditions for the low, intermediate and high-ionization emission lines are different, which indicate that the emission lines are emitted in different zones of the broad line region. The asymmetries shown by the profiles reveal different forces over emitter zones. The high-ionization region is strongly dominated by radiation forces, which also affect the low and intermediate-ionization emitter region, commonly governed by virial motions. These results support the idea that highly radiating sources host a slim disk.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Dark energy constraints from quasar observations

Recent measurements of the parameters of the Concordance Cosmology Model ($\Lambda$CDM) done in the low-redshift Universe with Supernovae Ia/Cepheids, and in the distant Universe done with Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) imply different values for the Hubble constant (67.4 $\pm$ 0.5 km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$ from Planck vs 74.03 $\pm$ 1.42 km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$, Riess et al. 2019). This Hubble constant tension implies that either the systematic errors are underestimated, or the $\Lambda$CDM does not represent well the observed expansion of the Universe. Since quasars - active galactic nuclei - can be observed in the nearby Universe up to redshift z $\sim$ 7.5, they are suitable to estimate the cosmological properties in a large redshift range. Our group develops two methods based on the observations of quasars in the late Universe up to redshift z$\sim$4.5, with the objective to determine the expansion rate of the Universe. These methods do not yet provide an independent measurement of the Hubble constant since they do not have firm absolute calibration but they allow to test the $\Lambda$CDM model, and so far no departures from this model were found.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, contribution to the Proceedings of the 100 years of the Polish Physical Society Congress, 16-18 October 2020, Warsaw, Poland. http://info.ifpan.edu.pl/APP

A Main Sequence for Quasars

AD and MM-A acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry for Economy and Competitiveness through grants AYA2013-42227-P and AYA2016-76682-C3-1-P. DD and CN acknowledge support from grants PAPIIT108716, UNAM, and CONACyT221398. EB and NB acknowledge grants 176003 Gravitation and the large scale structure of the Universe and 176001 Astrophysical spectroscopy of extragalactic objects supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia

Quasar massive ionized outflows traced by CIV λ1549 and [OIII]λλ4959,5007

The most luminous quasars (with bolometric luminosities are ≳ 1047 erg/s) show a high prevalence of CIV λ1549 and [OIII]λλ4959,5007 emission line profiles with strong blueshifts. Blueshifts are interpreted as due to Doppler effect and selective obscuration, and indicate outflows occurring over a wide range of spatial scales. We found evidence in favor of the nuclear origin of the outflows diagnosed by [OIII]λλ4959,5007. The ionized gas mass, kinetic power, and mechanical thrust are extremely high, and suggest widespread feedback effects on the host galaxies of very luminous quasars, at cosmic epochs between 2 and 6 Gyr from the Big Bang. In this mini-review we summarize results obtained by our group and reported in several major papers in the last few years with an eye on challenging aspects of quantifying feedback effects in large samples of quasars

Selection of highly-accreting quasars. Spectral properties of Fe IIopt emitters not belonging to extreme Population A

Context. The quasar class of extreme Population A (xA) (also known as super-Eddington accreting massive black holes, SEAMBHs) has been hailed as potential distance indicators for cosmology. Aims. The aim of this paper is to define tight criteria for their proper identification, starting from the main selection criterion RFeII > 1, and to identify potential intruders that do not meet the selection criteria, which nonetheless have been selected as xA because of the coarseness of automatic searches. The inclusion of the spurious xA sources may dramatically increase the dispersion in the Hubble diagram of quasars, which were obtained from virial luminosity estimates. Methods. We studied a sample of 32 low-z quasars that were originally selected from the seventh data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey as xA or SEAMBHs, which have been proved to be almost certainly misclassified sources. All of them show moderate to strong Fe II emission and the large majority show strong absorption features in their spectra which are typical of fairly evolved stellar populations. We performed a simultaneous fit of a host galaxy spectrum, active galactic nucleus (AGN) continuum, FeII template, and emission lines to spectra, using the fitting technique based on ULySS, the full spectrum fitting package. We derived the main accretion parameters (i.e., luminosity, black hole mass, and Eddington ratio) and investigate the relation between host galaxy properties and AGN. Results. For sources in our sample with spectral types that correspond to a relatively low Eddington ratio, we find an overall consistency between HβNC, [O III]λλ4959,5007 line shifts, and the mean stellar velocity obtained from the host galaxy fit (within|60| km s-1). Only one source in our sample qualifies as a xA source. Conclusions. The correct classification of spectra that were contaminated by heavy absorption requires careful determination of the host galaxy spectrum. Contamination and misclassification are not usual in the identification of the xAs, nor at low z or at high z. We find a high fraction of host galaxy spectrum; in half of the sample this is even higher than 40%. When absorption lines are prominent, and the fraction of the host galaxy is high, host galaxy spectrum mimics FeII, which may result in a mistaken identification of FeII spectral features. We have identified several stellar absorption lines that, along with the continuum shape, may lead to an overestimate of RFeII, and therefore to the misclassification of sources as xA sources. © ESO 2020.This research is part of the projects 176001 "Astrophysical spectroscopy of extragalactic objects" and 176003 "Gravitation and the large scale structure of the Universe", funded by Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. PM and MDO acknowledge funding from the INAF PRIN-SKA 2017 program 1.05.01.88.04. PM also acknowledges the Programa de Estancias de Investigacion (PREI) No. DGAP/DFA/2192/2018 of UNAM. A.d.O. acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through grant AYA2016-76682-C3-1-P and from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIU through the "Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa" award for the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (SEV-2017-0709). ML. M. A. acknowledges financial support of National Science Centre, Poland, grant No. 2017/26/A/ST9/00756 (Maestro 9). DD acknowledges support from grants PAPIIT, UNAM 113719, Mexico D.F. 04510, Mexico. AN acknowledges support from grant CONACyT research fellow -Instituto de Astronomia, UNAM, Mexico D.F. 04510, Mexico. We thank to Pu Du for his help and constructive comments. Funding for the SDSS and SDSS-II has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Participating Institutions, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Japanese Monbukagakusho, the Max Planck Society, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The SDSS Web Site is http://www.sdss.org/.The SDSS is managed by the Astrophysical Research Consortium for the Participating Institutions. The Participating Institutions are the American Museum of Natural History, Astrophysical Institute Potsdam, University of Basel, University of Cambridge, Case Western Reserve University, University of Chicago, Drexel University, Fermilab, the Institute for Advanced Study, the Japan Participation Group, Johns Hopkins University, the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, the Korean Scientist Group, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (LAMOST), Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy (MPIA), the Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics (MPA), New Mexico State University, Ohio State University, University of Pittsburgh, University of Portsmouth, Princeton University, the United States Naval Observatory, and the University of Washington.Peer reviewe

Highly Accreting Quasars at High Redshift

Open Access.--Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)We present preliminary results of a spectroscopic analysis for a sample of type 1 highly accreting quasars (L/L-Edd similar to 1.0) at high redshift, z similar to 2-3. The quasars were observed with the OSIRIS spectrograph on the GTC 10.4 m telescope located at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos in La Palma. The highly accreting quasars were identified using the 4D Eigenvector 1 formalism, which is able to organize type 1 quasars over a broad range of redshift and luminosity. The kinematic and physical properties of the broad line region have been derived by fitting the profiles of strong UV emission lines such as AlIII lambda 1860, SiIII]lambda 1892 and CIII]lambda 1909. The majority of our sources show strong blueshifts in the high-ionization lines and high Eddington ratios which are related with the productions of outflows. The importance of highly accreting quasars goes beyond a detailed understanding of their physics: their extreme Eddington ratio makes them candidates standard candles for cosmological studies.© Copyright © 2018 Martínez-Aldama, Del Olmo, Marziani, Sulentic, Negrete, Dultzin, Perea and D'Onofrio.MM-A acknowledge the postdoctoral grant from the CONACyT. MM-A and AD acknowledge financial support from Spanish Ministry for Economy and Competitiveness through grants AYA2013-42227-P and AYA2016-76682-C3-3-1-P

A photoionization method for estimating black hole masses in quasars

Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, Symposium S342 (Perseus in Sicily: From Black Hole to Cluster Outskirts) May 2018We present a method that uses photoionization codes (CLOUDY) to estimate the supermassive black hole masses (MBH) for quasars at low and high redshift. This method is based on the determination of the physical conditions of the broad line region (BLR) using observational diagnostic diagrams from line ratios in the UV. We also considered that the density and metallicity of the BLR in quasars at high z could be different from those at the nearby Universe. The computed black hole masses obtained using this method are in agreement with those derived from the method of reverberation mapping. © International Astronomical Union 2020Peer reviewe

A Main Sequence for Quasars

Open Access.-Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)The last 25 years saw a major step forward in the analysis of optical and UV spectroscopic data of large quasar samples. Multivariate statistical approaches have led to the definition of systematic trends in observational properties that are the basis of physical and dynamical modeling of quasar structure. We discuss the empirical correlates of the so-called >main sequence> associated with the quasar Eigenvector 1, its governing physical parameters and several implications on our view of the quasar structure, as well as some luminosity effects associated with the virialized component of the line emitting regions. We also briefly discuss quasars in a segment of the main sequence that includes the strongest FeII emitters. These sources show a small dispersion around a well-defined Eddington ratio value, a property which makes them potential Eddington standard candles.© Copyright © 2018 Marziani, Dultzin, Sulentic, Del Olmo, Negrete, Martínez-Aldama, D'Onofrio, Bon, Bon and Stirpe.AD and MM-A acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry for Economy and Competitiveness through grants AYA2013-42227-P and AYA2016-76682-C3-1-P. DD and CN acknowledge support from grants PAPIIT108716, UNAM, and CONACyT221398. EB and NB acknowledge grants 176003 Gravitation and the large scale structure of the Universe and 176001 Astrophysical spectroscopy of extragalactic objects supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia

Extreme quasars at high redshift

Context. Quasars radiating at extreme Eddington ratios (hereafter xA quasars) are likely a prime mover of galactic evolution and have been hailed as potential distance indicators. Their properties are still scarcely known. Aims. We aim to test the effectiveness of the selection criteria defined on the >4D Eigenvector 1> (4DE1) for identifying xA sources. We provide a quantitative description of their rest-frame UV spectra (1300-2200 Å) in the redshift range 2 ≤ z ≤ 2.9, with a focus on major emission features. Methods. Nineteen extreme quasar candidates were identified using 4DE1 selection criteria applied to SDSS spectra: Alλ1860Siλ1892 ≥ 0.5 and Cλ1909/Siλ1892 ≤ 1. The emission line spectra was studied using multicomponent fits of deep spectroscopic observations (S/N ≥ 40-50; spectral resolution ≈ 250 km s) obtained with the OSIRIS at Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). Results. GTC spectra confirm that almost all of these quasars are xA sources with very similar properties. We provide spectrophotometric and line profile measurements for the Siλ1397+O, Cλ1549+Heλ1640, and the 1900 Å blend. This last feature is found to be predominantly composed of Alλ1860, Siλ1892 and Fe emission features, with weak Cλ1909. The spectra can be characterized as very low ionization (ionization parameter, logU ∼ -3), a condition that explains the significant Fe emission observed in the spectra. xA quasars show extreme properties in terms of Cλ1549 equivalent width and blueshift amplitudes. Cλ1549 shows low equivalent width, with a median value of 15 Å (≤ 30 Å for the most sources), and high or extreme blueshift amplitudes (-5000 ≤ c(1/2) ≤ -1000 km s). Weak-lined quasars appear as extreme xA quasars and not as an independent class. The Cλ1549 high amplitude blueshifts coexists in all cases save one with symmetric and narrower Alλ1860 and Siλ1892 profiles. Estimates of the Eddington ratio using the Alλ1860 FWHM as a virial broadening estimator are consistent with the ones of a previous xA sample. Conclusions. xA quasars show distinguishing properties that make them easily identifiable in large surveys and potential >standard candles> for cosmological applications. It is now feasible to assemble large samples of xA quasars from the latest data releases of the SDSS. We provide evidence that Alλ1860 could be associated with a low-ionization virialized subsystem, supporting previous suggestions that Al is a reliable virial broadening estimator.© ESO 2018.AdO, MLMA and JWS acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry for Economy and Competitiveness through grants AYA2013-42227-P and AYA2016-76682-C3-1-P. MLMA, PM and MDO acknowledge funding from the INAF PRIN-SKA 2017 program 1.05.01.88.04. JP acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry for Economy and Competitiveness through grants AYA2013-40609-P and AYA2016-76682-C3-3-P.Peer Reviewe