The X-ray Properties of z>4 Quasars

Abstract

We report on a search for X-ray emission from quasars with redshifts greater than four using the ROSAT public database. Our search has doubled the number of z>4 quasars detected in X-rays from 6 to 12. Most of those known prior to this work were radio-loud and X-ray selected sources; our study increases the number of X-ray detected, optically selected z>4 quasars from one to seven. We present their basic X-ray properties and compare these to those of lower redshift quasars. We do not find any evidence for strong broad-band spectral differences between optically selected z>4 quasars and those at lower redshifts.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures included, LaTeX emulateapj.sty, accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa