Signature of outflows in strong Mg ii absorbers in quasar sightlines

Abstract

Abstract We report a correlation between velocity offset (β = v/c) of strong Mg ii absorption systems and the bolometric luminosity (Lbol) of quasars in SDSS-DR7. We find that β shows a power-law increase with Lbol, with a slope ∼1/4. We find that such a relation of β with Lbol is expected for outflows driven by scattering of black hole radiation by dust grains, and which are launched from the innermost dust survival radius. Our results indicate that a significant fraction of the strong Mg ii absorbers, in the range of β = 0–0.4, may be associated with the quasars themselves.