On the structure and energetics of quasar broad absorption-line outflows

Abstract

Quasar accretion-disk outflows might play an important role in galaxy evolution, but they are notoriously difficult to study due to line saturation and blending problems in the Ly-alpha forest. We circumvent these problems by constructing median composite spectra of diverse broad absorption lines (BALs) and `mini-BALs' in SDSS-III BOSS quasars at redshifts 2.3 < z < 3.5. Sorting by CIV 1549,1551 absorption-line strength with AlIII 1855,1863 as an additional indicator of low ionisations (LoBALs) we find the following: (1) Deeper and broader BALs are accompanied by weaker HeII 1640 emission lines, consistent with softer ionising spectra producing more effective radiative acceleration. (2) PV 1118,1128 absorption is present with resolved ~1:1 depth ratios in all composites from mini-BALs to strong BALs indicating that line saturation, large total column densities log N_H(cm^-2) > 22.7, and large ionisation parameters log U > -0.5 are common. (3) Different observed depths in saturated lines identify inhomogeneous partial covering on spatial scales <0.006 pc, where weak/low-abundance transitions like PV form in small high-column density clumps while stronger/broader lines like CIV form in larger volumes. (4) Excited-state SiIV* 1073 and CIII* 1176 lines in BAL outflows indicate typical densities n_e > 3 x 10^5 cm^-3 and maximum radial distances R < 23pc from the quasars. (5) For reasonable actual distances, the median BAL outflow has minimum kinetic energy L_K/L > 0.005(R/1.2pc) sufficient (by some estimates) for feedback to galaxy evolution. (6) LoBAL quasars have the largest median outflow column densities, highest velocities, and weakest HeII 1640 emission in our study; they appear to be at one extreme in a distribution of quasar properties where softer ionising spectra drive more powerful outflows.

arXiv comment23 pages, 8 figures, poor formatting (I don't know why), in press with MNRAS, new version updates some references

References in corpus (94)

• The chemical composition of the Sun
• Energy input from quasars regulates the growth and activity of black holes and their host galaxies
• Observational Evidence of AGN Feedback
• SDSS-III: Massive Spectroscopic Surveys of the Distant Universe, the Milky Way Galaxy, and Extra-Solar Planetary Systems
• The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey of SDSS-III
• Composite Quasar Spectra From the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• A Cosmological Framework for the Co-Evolution of Quasars, Supermassive Black Holes, and Elliptical Galaxies: I. Galaxy Mergers & Quasar Activity
• A Cosmology Calculator for the World Wide Web
• Dynamics of line-driven disk winds in Active Galactic Nuclei
• A Structure for Quasars
• Quasar Feedback: More Bang for Your Buck
• Dynamics of Line-Driven Disk Winds in Active Galactic Nuclei II: Effects of Disk Radiation
• Supermassive black holes and their feedback effects in the IllustrisTNG simulation
• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Catalog: twelfth data release
• The 1% Concordance Hubble Constant
• Unification of Luminous Type 1 Quasars through CIV Emission
• A Catalog of Broad Absorption Line Quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Third Data Release
• A Catalog of Broad Absorption Line Quasars in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5
• Red and Reddened Quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• Unusual Broad Absorption Line Quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• Observations of Feedback from Radio-Quiet Quasars - II. Kinematics of Ionized Gas Nebulae
• Column density distribution and cosmological mass density of neutral gas: Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III Data Release 9
• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasar catalog: ninth data release
• Continuum and Emission-Line Properties of Broad Absorption Line Quasars
• A strong redshift dependence of the broad absorption line quasar fraction
• Quasar Outflow Contribution to AGN Feedback: Observations of QSO SDSS J0838+2955
• An Atlas of Computed Equivalent Widths of Quasar Broad Emission Lines
• The Quasar Outflow Contribution to AGN Feedback: VLT Measurements of SDSS J0318-0600
• Composite Spectra from the FIRST Bright Quasar Survey
• The Intrinsic Fraction of Broad Absorption Line Quasars
• Continuum and Emission Line Strength Relations for a large Active Galactic Nuclei Sample
• FIRST-2MASS Red Quasars: Transitional Objects Emerging from the Dust
• Quasar Outflows and AGN Feedback in the Far UV: HST/COS Observations of QSO HE0238-1904
• The UV Properties of the Narrow Line Quasar I Zwicky 1
• Submillimeter Follow-up of WISE-Selected Hyperluminous Galaxies
• HST STIS Ultraviolet Spectral Evidence of Outflow in Extreme Narrow-line Seyfert 1 Galaxies: II. Modeling and Interpretation
• Quasar-Mode Feedback in Nearby Type 1 Quasars: Ubiquitous Kiloparsec-Scale Outflows and Correlations with Black Hole Properties
• The FIRST-2MASS Red Quasar Survey II: An anomalously high fraction of LoBALs in searches for dust-reddened quasars
• Broad Absorption Line Variability on Multi-Year Timescales in a Large Quasar Sample
• Keck High Resolution Spectroscopy of PKS 0123+257: Intrinsic Absorption in a Radio Loud Quasar
• Fast outflows and star formation quenching in quasar host galaxies
• Keck Hires Observations of the QSO First J104459.6+365605: Evidence for a Large Scale Outflow
• Multi-dimensional modelling of X-ray spectra for AGN accretion-disk outflows III: application to a hydrodynamical simulation
• High-Resolution Keck Spectra of the Associated Absorption Lines in 3C 191
• Major contributor to AGN feedback: VLT X-shooter observations of SIV BAL QSO outflows
• 2MASS Reveals a Large Intrinsic Fraction of BALQSOs
• A High-Velocity Narrow Absorption Line Outflow in the Quasar J212329.46-005052.9
• HST Observations of the Broad Absorption Line Quasar PG 0946+301
• Broad P V Absorption in the BALQSO, PG 1254+047: Column Densities, Ionizations and Metal Abundances in BAL Winds
• CIV Emission Line Properties and Systematic Trends in Quasar Black Hole Mass Estimates
• The Intrinsically X-ray Weak Quasar PHL 1811. II. Optical and UV Spectra and Analysis
• Line driven winds and the UV turnover in AGN accretion discs
• What Determines the Depth of BALs? Keck HIRES Observations of BALQSO 1603+300
• X-ray/UV Campaign on the Mrk 279 AGN Outflow: Constraining Inhomogeneous Absorber Models
• Variability in Quasar Broad Absorption Line Outflows III. What Happens on the Shortest Time-scales?
• Implications of Dramatic Broad Absorption Line Variability in the Quasar FBQS J1408+3054
• Extreme-Velocity Quasar Outflows and the Role of X-ray Shielding
• Emergence of a Broad-Absorption-Line Outflow in the Narrow-line Seyfert 1 Galaxy WPVS 007
• Measuring Column Densities in Quasar Outflows: VLT Observations of QSO 2359-1241
• On the Origin of Intrinsic Narrow Absorption Lines in z<1 QSOs
• Spitzer Observations of Young Red Quasars
• Evidence that 50% of BALQSO Outflows Are Situated at Least 100 pc from the Central Source
• The Ionized Gas and Nuclear Environment in NGC 3783 II. Averaged HST/STIS and FUSE Spectra
• Quasars as Cosmological Probes: The Ionizing Continuum, Gas Metallicity and the EW-L Relation
• Rest-frame Optical Properties of Luminous 1.5<z<3.5 Quasars: the Hbeta-[OIII] Region
• Mining for Dust in Type 1 Quasars
• Testing Quasar Unification: Radiative Transfer in Clumpy Winds
• Low-z MgII Broad Absorption-Line Quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• X-ray/UV Observing Campaign on the Mrk 279 AGN Outflow: A Global Fitting Analysis of the UV Absorption
• Does the X-ray outflow quasar PDS 456 have a UV outflow at 0.3c?
• The average absorption properties of broad absorption line quasars at 800 < lambda_rest < 3000 Å, and the underlying physical parameters
• BAL phosphorus abundance and evidence for immense ionic column densities in quasar outflows: VLT X-Shooter observations of quasar SDSS J1512+1119
• Radiation pressure confinement - IV. Application to broad absorption line outflows
• The Composite Spectrum of BOSS Quasars Selected for Studies of the Lyman-alpha Forest
• Multi-Epoch Observations of Extremely High-Velocity Emergent Broad Absorption
• Classifying Broad Absorption Line Quasars: Metrics, Issues and a New Catalogue Constructed from SDSS DR5
• Nature and statistical properties of quasar associated absorption systems in the XQ-100 Legacy Survey
• AGN feedback on molecular gas reservoirs in quasars at $z\sim$2.4
• A Variable PV Broad Absorption Line and Quasar Outflow Energetics
• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping Project: the CIV Blueshift, Its Variability, and Its Dependence Upon Quasar Properties
• Monitoring the Variability of Intrinsic Absorption Lines in Quasar Spectra
• VLT+UVES Spectroscopy of the CaII LoBAL Quasar SDSS J030000.56+004828.0
• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping Project: An Investigation of Biases in CIV Emission-Line Properties
• Continuum Shielding and Flow Dynamics in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Discovery of the Transition of a Mini-Broad Absorption Line into Broad Absorption in the SDSS Quasar J115122.14+020426.3
• HST and Ground-Based Spectroscopy of Quasar Outflows: From Mini-BALs to BALs
• On the origins of C IV absorption profile diversity in broad absorption line quasars
• BAL Outflow Contribution to AGN Feedback: Frequency of S iv Outflows in the SDSS
• The Nature of LoBAL QSOs: I. SEDs and mid-infrared spectral properties
• Resolving the Clumpy Structure of the Outflow Winds in the Gravitationally Lensed Quasar SDSS J1029+2623
• Quasars with PV broad absorption in BOSS data release 9
• Hunting for Metals Using XQ-100 Legacy Survey Composite Spectra
• Quasar Structure Emerges from the Three Forms of Radiation Pressure
• Narrow UV Absorption Line Outflows from Quasars

Cited by in corpus (38)

• Cool Outflows in Galaxies and their Implications
• Ionized outflows from active galactic nuclei as the essential elements of feedback
• BAL and non-BAL quasars: continuum, emission and absorption properties establish a common parent sample
• Stratified disc wind models for the AGN broad-line region: ultraviolet, optical and X-ray properties
• Ionised Emission and Absorption in a Large Sample of Ultraluminous X-ray Sources
• Classification of Broad Absorption Line Quasars with a Convolutional Neural Network
• The WISSH quasars project VI. Fraction and properties of BAL quasars in the hyper-luminosity regime
• Evidence for quasar fast outflows being accelerated at the scale of tens of parsecs
• The Physical Properties of Low Redshift FeLoBAL Quasars. I. Spectral Synthesis Analysis of the BAL Outflows using $SimBAL$
• Stronger Constraints on the Evolution of the $M_{\mathrm{BH}}-{\sigma }_{\ast }$ Relation up to $z\sim 0.6$
• The WISSH quasars project X. Discovery of a multi-component and highly-variable UV ultra-fast outflow in a z=3.6 quasar
• The Ubiquitous Imprint of Radiative Acceleration in the Mean Absorption Spectrum of Quasar Outflows
• Variability of Low-ionization Broad Absorption Line Quasars Based on Multi-epoch Spectra from The Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• On the Emergence of Thousands of Absorption Lines in the Quasar PG1411+442: A Clumpy High-Column Density Outflow from the Broad Emission-Line Region?
• Evidence that Emission and Absorption Outflows in Quasars Are Related
• Connecting radio emission to AGN wind properties with Broad Absorption Line Quasars
• HST/COS Observations of Quasar Outflows in the 500 -- 1050 Å Rest Frame: II The Most Energetic Quasar Outflow Measured to Date
• Dust-driven wind as a model of Broad Absorption Line quasars
• Subaru High-z Exploration of Low-Luminosity Quasars (SHELLQs). IX. Identification of Two Red Quasars at z > 5.6
• The Physical Properties of Low-Redshift FeLoBAL Quasars: II. The Rest-Frame Optical Emission Line Properties
• Behaviour of the MgII 2798AA Line Over the Full Range of AGN Variability
• GA-NIFS: A galaxy-wide outflow in a Compton-thick mini-BAL quasar at z = 3.5 probed in emission and absorption
• Galactic Winds across the Gas-Rich Merger Sequence: I. Highly Ionized N V and O VI Outflows in the QUEST Quasars
• The impact and mitigation of broad absorption line quasars in Lyman$-\alpha$ forest correlations
• A Catalog of High-Velocity CIV Mini-BALs in the VLT-UVES and Keck-HIRES Archives
• Spatially separated continuum sources revealed by microlensing in the gravitationally lensed broad absorption line quasar SDSSJ081830.46+060138.0
• Spectroscopy of broad absorption line quasars at $3\lesssim z\lesssim 5$ -- I: evidence for quasar winds shaping broad/narrow emission line regions
• Radiation-pressure Waves and Multiphase Quasar Outflows
• Multi-epoch spectroscopy of Mg II broad absorption line transitions
• The Nature of LoBAL QSOs: II. HST/WFC3 Observations Reveal Host Galaxies Dominated by Mergers
• A Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope Survey of Radio-loud Broad Absorption Line Quasars
• Multiphase Powerful Outflows Detected in High-z Quasars
• Discovery of the Asymmetric Effect in the Response of Photoionization Gas
• A New Member of the Fast and Furious Family: A Relativistic and Time-Variable UV Outflow in a Luminous Quasar
• Transient LoBALs at high velocities: A Case of Extreme Broad Absorption Line Variability in J115636.82+085628.9
• Fast Outflowing Warm Absorbers in Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy PG 1001+054 Revealed by HST/COS Spectra
• A quasar shedding its dust cocoon at redshift 2
• Dissecting the multiple-component outflow in NGC 5548 with absorption-line Variability