The luminosity function of quasars by the Principle of Maximum Entropy

Abstract

ABSTRACT We propose a different way to obtain the distribution of the luminosity function of quasars by using the Principle of Maximum Entropy. The input data come from Richard et al 2006 quasar counts, extending up to redshift 5 and limited from apparent magnitude i = 15–19.1 at z ≲ 3 to i = 20.2 for z ≳ 3. Using only few initial data points, the principle allows us to estimate probabilities and hence that luminosity curve. We carry out statistical tests to evaluate our results. The resulting luminosity function compares well to earlier determinations, and our results remain consistent either when the amount or choice of sampled sources is unbiasedly altered. Besides this, we estimate the distribution of the luminosity function for redshifts in which there is only observational data in the vicinity.