Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userThe SDSS Quasar Survey: Quasar Luminosity Function from Data Release Three
91
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
We determine the number counts and z=0-5 luminosity function for a well-defined, homogeneous sample of quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We conservatively define the most uniform statistical sample possible, consisting of 15,343 quasars within an effective area of 1622 deg^2 that was derived from a parent sample of 46,420 spectroscopically confirmed broad-line quasars in the 5282 deg^2 of imaging data from SDSS Data Release Three. The sample extends from i=15 to i=19.1 at z<3 and to i=20.2 for z>3. The number counts and luminosity function agree well with the results of the 2dF QSO Survey, but the SDSS data probe to much higher redshifts than does the 2dF sample. The number density of luminous quasars peaks between redshifts 2 and 3, although uncertainties in the selection function in this range do not allow us to determine the peak redshift more precisely. Our best fit model has a flatter bright end slope at high redshift than at low redshift. For z<2.4 the data are best fit by a redshift-independent slope of beta = -3.1 (Phi(L) propto L^beta). Above z=2.4 the slope flattens with redshift to beta=-2.37 at z=5. This slope change, which is significant at a >5-sigma level, must be accounted for in models of the evolution of accretion onto supermassive black holes.
rate research
Read More
We present a new measurement of the optical Quasar Luminosity Function (QLF), using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III: Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (SDSS-III: BOSS). From the SDSS-III Data Release Nine (DR9), we select a uniform sample of 22,301 i<=21.8 quasars over an area of 2236 sq. deg with confirmed spectroscopic redshifts between 2.2<z<3.5, filling in a key part of the luminosity-redshift plane for optical quasar studies. We derive the completeness of the survey through simulated quasar photometry, and check this completeness estimate using a sample of quasars selected by their photometric variability within the BOSS footprint. We investigate the level of systematics associated with our quasar sample using the simulations, in the process generating color-redshift relations and a new quasar k-correction. We probe the faint end of the QLF to M_i(z=2.2) = -24.5 and see a clear break in the QLF at all redshifts up to z=3.5. We find that a log-linear relation (in log[Phi*] - M*) for a luminosity and density evolution (LEDE) model adequately describes our data within the range 2.2<z<3.5; across this interval the break luminosity increases by a factor of ~2.3 while Phi* declines by a factor of ~6. At z<2.2 our data is reasonably well fit by a pure luminosity evolution (PLE) model. We see only a weak signature of AGN downsizing, in line with recent studies of the hard X-ray luminosity function. We compare our measured QLF to a number of theoretical models and find that models making a variety of assumptions about quasar triggering and halo occupation can fit our data over a wide range of redshifts and luminosities.
This is the second installment for the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) Quasar Survey, which includes quasars observed from September 2013 to June 2015. There are 9024 confirmed quasars in DR2 and 10911 in DR3. After cross-match with the SDSS quasar catalogs and NED, 12126 quasars are discovered independently. Among them 2225 quasars were released by SDSS DR12 QSO catalogue in 2014 after we finalised the survey candidates. 1801 sources were identified by SDSS DR14 as QSOs. The remaining 8100 quasars are considered as newly founded, and among them 6887 quasars can be given reliable emission line measurements and the estimated black hole masses. Quasars found in LAMOST are mostly located at low-to-moderate redshifts, with a mean value of 1.5. The highest redshift observed in DR2 and DR3 is 5. We applied emission line measurements to H$alpha$, H$beta$, Mg{sc ii} and C{sc iv}. We deduced the monochromatic continuum luminosities using photometry data, and estimated the virial black hole masses for the newly discovered quasars. Results are compiled into a quasar catalog, which will be available online.
The SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), a five-year spectroscopic survey of 10,000 deg^2, achieved first light in late 2009. One of the key goals of BOSS is to measure the signature of baryon acoustic oscillations in the distribution of Ly-alpha absorption from the spectra of a sample of ~150,000 z>2.2 quasars. Along with measuring the angular diameter distance at zapprox2.5, BOSS will provide the first direct measurement of the expansion rate of the Universe at z > 2. One of the biggest challenges in achieving this goal is an efficient target selection algorithm for quasars over 2.2 < z < 3.5, where their colors overlap those of stars. During the first year of the BOSS survey, quasar target selection methods were developed and tested to meet the requirement of delivering at least 15 quasars deg^-2 in this redshift range, out of 40 targets deg^-2. To achieve these surface densities, the magnitude limit of the quasar targets was set at g <= 22.0 or r<=21.85. While detection of the BAO signature in the Ly-alpha absorption in quasar spectra does not require a uniform target selection, many other astrophysical studies do. We therefore defined a uniformly-selected subsample of 20 targets deg^-2, for which the selection efficiency is just over 50%. This CORE subsample will be fixed for Years Two through Five of the survey. In this paper we describe the evolution and implementation of the BOSS quasar target selection algorithms during the first two years of BOSS operations. We analyze the spectra obtained during the first year. 11,263 new z>2.2 quasars were spectroscopically confirmed by BOSS. Our current algorithms select an average of 15 z > 2.2 quasars deg^-2 from 40 targets deg^-2 using single-epoch SDSS imaging. Multi-epoch optical data and data at other wavelengths can further improve the efficiency and completeness of BOSS quasar target selection. [Abridged]
43024 objects, which were primarily identified as quasars in SDSS DR5 and have spectroscopic redshifts were used to study the luminosity dependence of the quasar clustering with the help of two different techniques. The obtained results reveal that brighter quasars are more clustered, but this dependence is weak, which is in agreement with the results by Porciani & Norberg, 2006 and theoretical predictions by Lidz et al., 2006.
The clustering properties of the Universe at large-scales are currently being probed at various redshifts through several cosmological tracers and with diverse statistical estimators. Here we use the three-point angular correlation function (3PACF) to probe the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) features in the quasars catalogue from the twelfth data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, with mean redshift z = 2.225, detecting the BAO imprint with a statistical significance of 2.9{sigma}, obtained using lognormal mocks. Following a quasi model-independent approach for the 3PACF, we find the BAO transversal signature for triangles with sides $theta_1 = 1.0^circ$ and $theta_2 = 1.5^circ$ and the angle between them of $alpha = 1.59 pm 0.17$ rad, a value that corresponds to the angular BAO scale ${theta}_{BAO} = 1.82^circ pm 0.21^circ$ , in excellent agreement with the value found in a recent work (${theta}_{BAO} = 1.77^circ pm 0.31^circ$ ) applying the 2PACF to similar data. Moreover, we performed two type of tests: one to confirm the robustness of the BAO signal in the 3PACF through random displacements in the dataset, and the other to verify the suitability of our random samples, a null test that in fact does not show any signature that could bias our results.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
