Shedding New Light on Weak Emission-line Quasars in the C iv-H β Parameter Space

Trung Ha; Cooper Dix; Brandon M. Matthews; Ohad Shemmer; Michael S. Brotherton; Adam D. Myers; Gordon T. Richards; Jaya Maithil; Scott F. Anderson; W. N. Brandt; Aleksandar M. Diamond-Stanic; Xiaohui Fan; S. C. Gallagher; Richard Green; Paulina Lira; Bin Luo; Hagai Netzer; Richard M. Plotkin; Jessie C. Runnoe; Donald P. Schneider; Michael A. Strauss; Benny Trakhtenbrot; Jianfeng Wu

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/acd04d

Shedding New Light on Weak Emission-line Quasars in the C iv-H β Parameter Space

Trung Ha, Cooper Dix, Brandon M. Matthews, Ohad Shemmer, Michael S. Brotherton, Adam D. Myers, Gordon T. Richards, Jaya Maithil, Scott F. Anderson, W. N. Brandt, Aleksandar M. Diamond-Stanic, Xiaohui Fan, S. C. Gallagher, Richard Green, Paulina Lira, Bin Luo, Hagai Netzer, Richard M. Plotkin, Jessie C. Runnoe, Donald P. SchneiderMichael A. Strauss, Benny Trakhtenbrot, Jianfeng Wu

Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Weak emission-line quasars (WLQs) are a subset of type 1 quasars that exhibit extremely weak Lyα + N v λ1240 and/or C iv λ1549 emission lines. We investigate the relationship between emission-line properties and accretion rate for a sample of 230 "ordinary"type 1 quasars and 18 WLQs at z < 0.5 and 1.5 < z < 3.5 that have rest-frame ultraviolet and optical spectral measurements. We apply a correction to the Hβ-based black hole mass (M BH) estimates of these quasars using the strength of the optical Fe ii emission. We confirm previous findings that WLQs' M BH values are overestimated by up to an order of magnitude using the traditional broad-emission-line region size-luminosity relation. With this M BH correction, we find a significant correlation between Hβ-based Eddington luminosity ratios and a combination of the rest-frame C iv equivalent width and C iv blueshift with respect to the systemic redshift. This correlation holds for both ordinary quasars and WLQs, which suggests that the two-dimensional C iv parameter space can serve as an indicator of accretion rate in all type 1 quasars across a wide range of spectral properties.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	97
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	950
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acd04d
State	Published - Jun 1 2023

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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10.3847/1538-4357/acd04d

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Ha, T., Dix, C., Matthews, B. M., Shemmer, O., Brotherton, M. S., Myers, A. D., Richards, G. T., Maithil, J., Anderson, S. F., Brandt, W. N., Diamond-Stanic, A. M., Fan, X., Gallagher, S. C., Green, R., Lira, P., Luo, B., Netzer, H., Plotkin, R. M., Runnoe, J. C., ... Wu, J. (2023). Shedding New Light on Weak Emission-line Quasars in the C iv-H β Parameter Space. Astrophysical Journal, 950(2), Article 97. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acd04d

Ha, T, Dix, C, Matthews, BM, Shemmer, O, Brotherton, MS, Myers, AD, Richards, GT, Maithil, J, Anderson, SF, Brandt, WN, Diamond-Stanic, AM, Fan, X, Gallagher, SC, Green, R, Lira, P, Luo, B, Netzer, H, Plotkin, RM, Runnoe, JC, Schneider, DP, Strauss, MA, Trakhtenbrot, B & Wu, J 2023, 'Shedding New Light on Weak Emission-line Quasars in the C iv-H β Parameter Space', Astrophysical Journal, vol. 950, no. 2, 97. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acd04d

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title = "Shedding New Light on Weak Emission-line Quasars in the C iv-H β Parameter Space",

abstract = "Weak emission-line quasars (WLQs) are a subset of type 1 quasars that exhibit extremely weak Lyα + N v λ1240 and/or C iv λ1549 emission lines. We investigate the relationship between emission-line properties and accretion rate for a sample of 230 {"}ordinary{"}type 1 quasars and 18 WLQs at z < 0.5 and 1.5 < z < 3.5 that have rest-frame ultraviolet and optical spectral measurements. We apply a correction to the Hβ-based black hole mass (M BH) estimates of these quasars using the strength of the optical Fe ii emission. We confirm previous findings that WLQs' M BH values are overestimated by up to an order of magnitude using the traditional broad-emission-line region size-luminosity relation. With this M BH correction, we find a significant correlation between Hβ-based Eddington luminosity ratios and a combination of the rest-frame C iv equivalent width and C iv blueshift with respect to the systemic redshift. This correlation holds for both ordinary quasars and WLQs, which suggests that the two-dimensional C iv parameter space can serve as an indicator of accretion rate in all type 1 quasars across a wide range of spectral properties.",

author = "Trung Ha and Cooper Dix and Matthews, {Brandon M.} and Ohad Shemmer and Brotherton, {Michael S.} and Myers, {Adam D.} and Richards, {Gordon T.} and Jaya Maithil and Anderson, {Scott F.} and Brandt, {W. N.} and Diamond-Stanic, {Aleksandar M.} and Xiaohui Fan and Gallagher, {S. C.} and Richard Green and Paulina Lira and Bin Luo and Hagai Netzer and Plotkin, {Richard M.} and Runnoe, {Jessie C.} and Schneider, {Donald P.} and Strauss, {Michael A.} and Benny Trakhtenbrot and Jianfeng Wu",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.",

year = "2023",

month = jun,

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doi = "10.3847/1538-4357/acd04d",

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T1 - Shedding New Light on Weak Emission-line Quasars in the C iv-H β Parameter Space

AU - Ha, Trung

AU - Dix, Cooper

AU - Matthews, Brandon M.

AU - Shemmer, Ohad

AU - Brotherton, Michael S.

AU - Myers, Adam D.

AU - Richards, Gordon T.

AU - Maithil, Jaya

AU - Anderson, Scott F.

AU - Brandt, W. N.

AU - Diamond-Stanic, Aleksandar M.

AU - Fan, Xiaohui

AU - Gallagher, S. C.

AU - Green, Richard

AU - Lira, Paulina

AU - Luo, Bin

AU - Netzer, Hagai

AU - Plotkin, Richard M.

AU - Runnoe, Jessie C.

AU - Schneider, Donald P.

AU - Strauss, Michael A.

AU - Trakhtenbrot, Benny

AU - Wu, Jianfeng

PY - 2023/6/1

Y1 - 2023/6/1

N2 - Weak emission-line quasars (WLQs) are a subset of type 1 quasars that exhibit extremely weak Lyα + N v λ1240 and/or C iv λ1549 emission lines. We investigate the relationship between emission-line properties and accretion rate for a sample of 230 "ordinary"type 1 quasars and 18 WLQs at z < 0.5 and 1.5 < z < 3.5 that have rest-frame ultraviolet and optical spectral measurements. We apply a correction to the Hβ-based black hole mass (M BH) estimates of these quasars using the strength of the optical Fe ii emission. We confirm previous findings that WLQs' M BH values are overestimated by up to an order of magnitude using the traditional broad-emission-line region size-luminosity relation. With this M BH correction, we find a significant correlation between Hβ-based Eddington luminosity ratios and a combination of the rest-frame C iv equivalent width and C iv blueshift with respect to the systemic redshift. This correlation holds for both ordinary quasars and WLQs, which suggests that the two-dimensional C iv parameter space can serve as an indicator of accretion rate in all type 1 quasars across a wide range of spectral properties.

AB - Weak emission-line quasars (WLQs) are a subset of type 1 quasars that exhibit extremely weak Lyα + N v λ1240 and/or C iv λ1549 emission lines. We investigate the relationship between emission-line properties and accretion rate for a sample of 230 "ordinary"type 1 quasars and 18 WLQs at z < 0.5 and 1.5 < z < 3.5 that have rest-frame ultraviolet and optical spectral measurements. We apply a correction to the Hβ-based black hole mass (M BH) estimates of these quasars using the strength of the optical Fe ii emission. We confirm previous findings that WLQs' M BH values are overestimated by up to an order of magnitude using the traditional broad-emission-line region size-luminosity relation. With this M BH correction, we find a significant correlation between Hβ-based Eddington luminosity ratios and a combination of the rest-frame C iv equivalent width and C iv blueshift with respect to the systemic redshift. This correlation holds for both ordinary quasars and WLQs, which suggests that the two-dimensional C iv parameter space can serve as an indicator of accretion rate in all type 1 quasars across a wide range of spectral properties.

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JF - Astrophysical Journal

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M1 - 97

ER -

Shedding New Light on Weak Emission-line Quasars in the C iv-H β Parameter Space

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