THEXMM-NEWTONX-RAY SPECTRA OF THE MOST X-RAY LUMINOUS RADIO-QUIETROSATBRIGHT SURVEY-QSOs: A REFERENCE SAMPLE FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF HIGH-REDSHIFT QSO SPECTRA

Abstract

We present the broadband X-ray properties of four of the most X-ray luminous (L{sub X} {>=} 10{sup 45} erg s{sup -1} in the 0.5-2 keV band) radio-quiet QSOs found in the ROSAT Bright Survey. This uniform sample class, which explores the extreme end of the QSO luminosity function, exhibits surprisingly homogenous X-ray spectral properties: a soft excess with an extremely smooth shape containing no obvious discrete features, a hard power law above 2 keV, and a weak narrow/barely resolved Fe K{alpha} fluorescence line for the three high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) spectra. The soft excess can be well fitted with only a soft power law. No signatures of warm or cold intrinsic absorbers are found. The Fe K{alpha} centroids and the line widths indicate emission from neutral Fe (E = 6.4 keV) originating from cold material from distances of only a few light days or further out. The well-constrained equivalent widths (EW) of the neutral Fe lines are higher than expected from the X-ray Baldwin effect which has been only poorly constrained at very high luminosities. Taking into account our individual EW measurements, we show that the X-ray Baldwin effect flattens above L{sub X} {approx} 10{sup 44} erg s{sup -1} (2-10more » keV band) where an almost constant (EW) of {approx}100 eV is found. We confirm the assumption of having very similar X-ray active galactic nucleus properties when interpreting stacked X-ray spectra. Our stacked spectrum serves as a superb reference for the interpretation of low S/N spectra of radio-quiet QSOs with similar luminosities at higher redshifts routinely detected by XMM-Newton and Chandra surveys.« less