In the present work the part of the quasar UV-optical bump within the wavelength range 1210-1450AA was studied with the help of composite spectra compiled from the samples of SDSS DR7 spectra with the similar spectral index alpha_{lambda} within 1270
-1480 AA. This division allowed to see weak emission lines, which were not detected in previous studies of the quasar composite spectra, but were known from individual optical or composite UV spectra from the Hubble Space Telescope. Although the physical explanation of the difference in spectral indices between quasars and their dependence on quasar parameters is still not clear, it is obvious that this difference has to be taken into account when generating composite spectra, e.g. for redshift measurements. It was also shown that the equivalent width of the emission lines does not depend on the spectral index.
The composite spectra of quasars are widely used as templates for redshift determination, as well as for measurements of the mean transmission in Lyalpha-forest studies, and for investigation of general spectral properties of quasars. Possibility of
composite spectra utilisation in these fields is related to remarkable similarity of quasar spectra in UV-optical range. But despite of general similarity in spectral shapes, they differ in several parameters, one of which is the spectral index. In the present paper we study the possible effects, related to neglect of this difference. We compiled 16 composite spectra from subsamples of individual SDSS DR7 quasar spectra with different spectral indices alpha_lambda within the wavelength range 1270-1480 AA, and show that (i) the redshifts measured for a test sample of high signal-to-noise ratio quasar spectra using these composites as templates appear to be systematically higher than those calculated with a traditional template, compiled from spectra with different alpha_lambda, with 1.5 times smaller errors in the former case; (ii) the difference in alpha_lambda in individual spectra used for compilation of composites can yield the mean transmission uncertainty up to 20%; (iii) a number of emission lines indistinguishable in ordinary composites, but seen in individual high-resolution spectra, can be detected in such composites. It is also shown, that there is no dependence of alpha_lambda on quasar luminosity in SDSS u, g, r and i bands, and monochromatic luminosity at 1450 AA.
The present paper analyses the quasar clustering using the two-point correlation function (2pCF) and the largest existing sample of photometrically selected quasars: the SDSS NBCKDE catalogue (from the SDSS DR6). A new technique of random catalogue g
eneration was developed for this purpose, that allows to take into account the original homogeneity of the survey without knowledge of its imaging mask. When averaged over photometrical redshifts 0.8<z_phot<2.2 the 2pCF of photometrically selected quasars is found to be approximated well with the power law w(theta)=(theta/theta_0)^{-alpha} with theta_0=4.5+/-1.4, alpha=0.94+/-0.06 over the range 1<theta<40. It agrees well with previous results by Myers et al. (2006,2007), obtained for samples of NBCKDE quasars with similar mean z_phot, but averaged over broader z_phot range. The parameters of the deprojected 2pCF averaged over the same z_phot range and modelled with a power law xi(r)=(r/r_0)^{-gamma}, are r_0=7.81^{+1.18}_{-1.16} Mpc/h, gamma=1.94+/-0.06, which are in perfect agreement with previous results from spectroscopic surveys. We confirm the evidence for an increase of the clustering amplitude with z, and find no evidence for luminosity dependence of the quasar clustering. The latter is consistent with the models of the quasar formation, in which bright and faint quasars are assumed to be similar sources, hosted by dark matter halos of similar masses, but observed at different stages of their evolution. Comparison of our results with studies of the X-ray selected AGNs with similar z shows that the clustering amplitude of optically selected quasars is similar to that of X-ray selected quasars, but lower than that of samples of all X-ray selected AGNs. As the samples of all X-ray selected AGNs contain AGNs of both types, our result serves as an evidence for different types of AGNs to reside in different environments.
We analyze the quasar two-point correlation function (2pCF) within the redshift interval $0.8<z<2.2$ using a sample of 52303 quasars selected from the recent 7th Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Our approach to 2pCF uses a concept of loc
ally Lorentz (Fermi) frame for determination of the distance between objects and permutation method of the random catalogue generation. Assuming the spatially flat cosmological model with given $Omega_{Lambda}=0.726$, we found that the real-space 2pCF is fitted well with the power-low model within the distance range $1<sigma<35$ $h^{-1}$ Mpc with the correlation length $r_{0}=5.85pm0.33$ $h^{-1}$ Mpc and the slope $gamma=1.87pm0.07$. The redshift-space 2pCF is approximated with $s_{0}=6.43pm0.63$ $h^{-1}$ Mpc and $gamma=1.21pm0.24$ for $1<s<10$ $h^{-1}$ Mpc, and $s_{0}=7.37pm0.81$ $h^{-1}$ Mpc and $gamma=1.90pm0.24$ for $10<s<35$ $h^{-1}$ Mpc. For distances $s>10,h^{-1}$ Mpc the parameter describing the large-scale infall to density inhomogeneities is $beta=0.63pm0.10$ with the linear bias $b=1.44pm0.22$ that marginally (within 2$sigma$) agrees with the linear theory of cosmological perturbations. We discuss possibilities to obtain a statistical estimate of the random component of quasars velocities (different from the large-scale infall). We note rather slight dependence of quasars velocity dispersion upon the 2pCF parameters in the region $r<2$ Mpc.
