Quasar Luminosity Function Research Articles

Constraining the quasar contribution to the reionization of cosmic hydrogen

Absorption spectra of high redshift quasars suggest that the reionisation of cosmic hydrogen was complete near z~6. The dominant sources of ionising photons responsible for this reionisation are generally thought to be stars and quasars. In this paper we make a quantitative estimate of the relative contributions made by these sources. Our approach is to compute the evolution of the post overlap ionising background radiation by combining semi-analytic descriptions of reionisation in a clumpy medium with a model for the quasar luminosity function. Our overall model has two free parameters, the star formation efficiency and the minimum quasar luminosity. By adjusting these parameters, we constrain the relative contributions made by stars and quasars through comparison with reported observations (Fan et al. 2005). We find that the relative quasar contribution (at z=5.7) to the ionising background was between 1.4% and 14.5%. The range of uncertainty is dominated by the unknown minimum quasar luminosity.

What does the quasar luminosity function tell us about supermassive black hole evolution?

In the local universe, the masses of Super-Massive Black-Holes (SMBH) appear to correlate with the physical properties of their hosts, including the mass of the dark-matter halo. Using these clues as a starting point many studies have produced models that can explain phenomena like the quasar luminosity function. The shortcoming of this approach is that working models are not unique, and as a result it is not always clear what input physics is being constrained. Here we take a different approach. We identify critical parameters that describe the evolution of SMBHs at high redshift, and constrain their parameter space based on observations of high redshift quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We find that the luminosity function taken in isolation is somewhat limited in its ability to constrain SMBH evolution due to some strong degeneracies. This explains the presence in the literature of a range of equally successful models based on different physical hypotheses. Including the constraint of the local SMBH to halo mass ratio breaks some of the degeneracies, and our results suggest halo masses at z~4.8 of 10^{12.5+/-0.3}M_solar (with 90% confidence), with a SMBH to halo mass ratio that decreases with time (>99%). We also find a quasar luminosity to halo mass ratio that increases with halo mass (>99%). These features need to be incorporated in all successful models of SMBH evolution. On the other hand current observations do not permit any conclusions regarding the evolution of quasar lifetime, or the SMBH occupation fraction in dark matter halos.

Cosmological evolution of compact AGN at 15 GHz

We study the uniformity of the distribution of compact flat-spectrum AGN on the sky and the evolution of their relativistic jets with cosmic epoch. A complete sample of compact extragalactic radio sources at 15 GHz was recently compiled to conduct the MOJAVE program. The MOJAVE sample comprises 133 radio-loud flat-spectrum AGN with compact relativistic outflows detected at parsec scales. The source counts of compact AGN shows that the MOJAVE sample represents a flux-limited complete sample. Analysis of the population of flat-spectrum quasars of the sample reveals that the pc-scale jets of quasars have intrinsic luminosities in the range between ~10^24 W/Hz and ~10^27 W/Hz and Lorentz factors distributed between 3 and 30. We find that the apparent speed (or Lorentz factor) of jets evolves with redshift, increasing from z~0 to z~1 and then falling at higher redshifts (z~2.5) by a factor of 2.5. The evolution of apparent speeds does not affect significantly the evolution of the beamed luminosity function of quasars, which is most likely to be dependent on the evolution of radio luminosity. Furthermore, the beamed radio luminosity function suggests that the intrinsic luminosity function of quasars has a double power-law form: it is flat at low luminosities and steep at high luminosities. There is a positive evolution of quasars at low redshifts (z 1.7 with space density decline up to z~2.5. This implies that the powerful jets were more populous at redshifts between 0.5 and 1.7. We show that the evolution of compact quasars is luminosity dependent and it depends strongly on the speed of the jet suggesting that there are two distinct populations of quasars with slow and fast jets which evolve differently with redshift.

Constraints on Very Faint High-z Quasars

AbstractI discuss the constraints that can be derived on the abundance of high redshift (z>6) (mini)quasars from the unresolved soft X-Ray background. Furthermore, I will show how existing Lyα surveys can be used to probe the very faint MB≳-21 mag (i.e., ≳7–8 mag fainter than the SDSS quasars) end of the z≥,4.5 quasar luminosity function.

Populations of candidate black holes at redshift 7 or above

AbstractI will describe recent results on constructing samples of candidate active galactic nuclei (AGN) at or beyond redshift 7, probing several orders of magnitude fainter than the top end of the quasar luminosity function at redshift 6. These advances have been made possible by the advent of deep, wide multi-waveband surveys that enable the selection of samples of sources that are detected at radio or X-ray wavelengths but completely undetected at optical wavelengths to very deep limits. A variety of multi-band selection criteria are used to identify the high-redshift candidates and eliminate lower-redshift interlopers by means of extensive spectral energy distribution modelling. The resulting constraints on the numbers of high-redshift AGN at or above redshift 7 are used to examine the evolution of the AGN luminosity function at high redshift, and help understand the properties of the first supermassive black holes in the universe.

The Discovery of Three Newz > 5 Quasars in the AGN and Galaxy Evolution Survey

We present the discovery of three z > 5 quasars in the AGN and Galaxy Evolution Survey spectroscopic observations of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey (NDWFS) Bootes Field. These quasars were selected as part of a larger Spitzer mid-infrared quasar sample, with no selection based on optical colors. The highest redshift object, NDWFS J142516.3+325409, at z = 5.85, is the lowest luminosity z > 5.8 quasar currently known. We compare mid-infrared techniques for identifying z > 5 quasars to more traditional optical techniques and show that midinfrared colors allow for the selection of high-redshift quasars even at redshifts at which quasars lie near the optical stellar locus and at z > 7, where optical selection is impossible. Using the superb multiwavelength coverage available in the NDWFS Bootes field, we construct the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of high-redshift quasars from observed B_W band to 24 µm (rest-frame 600 A–3.7 µm). We show that the three high-redshift quasars have quite similar SEDs, and the rest-frame composite SED of low-redshift quasars from the literature shows little evolution compared to our high-redshift objects.We compare the number of z > 5 quasars we have discovered to the expected number from published quasar luminosity functions. While analyses of the quasar luminosity function are tenuous based on only three objects, we find that a relatively steep luminosity function with Ψ ∝ L^(-3.2) provides the best agreement with the number of high-redshift quasars discovered in our survey.

Quasar Luminosity Functions from Joint Evolution of Black Holes and Host Galaxies

We show that our previously proposed anti-hierarchical baryon collapse scenario for the joint evolution of black holes and host galaxies predicts quasar luminosity functions at redshifts 1.5<z<6 and local properties in nice agreement with observations. In our model the quasar activity marks and originates the transition between an earlier phase of violent and heavily dust-enshrouded starburst activity promoting rapid black hole growth, and a later phase of almost passive evolution; the former is traced by the submillimeter-selected sources, while the latter accounts for the high number density of massive galaxies at substantial redshifts z>1.5, the population of Extremely Red Objects, and the properties of local ellipticals.

On the radio properties of the highest redshift quasars

We present deep radio observations of the most distant complete quasar sample drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Combining our new data with those from literature, we obtain a sample which is ∼100 per cent complete down to S1.4 GHz= 60 μJy over the redshift range 3.8 ≤z≤ 5. The fraction of radio detections is relatively high (∼43 per cent), similar to what observed locally in bright optical surveys. Even though the combined radio and optical properties of quasars remain overall unchanged from z∼ 5 to the local Universe, there is some evidence for a slight overabundance of radio-loud (RL) sources at the highest redshifts when compared with the lower-z regime. Exploiting the deep radio Very Large Array observations, we present the first attempt to directly derive the radio luminosity function of bright quasars at z≳ 4. The unique depth – both in radio and optical – allows us to thoroughly explore the population of optically bright Fanaroff–Riley type II (FR II) quasars up to z∼ 5 and opens a window on the behaviour of the brightest FR I sources. A close investigation of the space density of RL quasars also suggests a differential evolution, with the more luminous sources showing a less-pronounced cut-off at high z when compared with the less-luminous ones.

How Much Mass Do Supermassive Black Holes Eat in Their Old Age?

We consider the distribution of local supermassive black hole Eddington ratios and accretion rates, accounting for the dependence of radiative efficiency and bolometric corrections on the accretion rate. We find that black hole mass growth, both of the integrated mass density and the masses of most individual objects, must be dominated by an earlier, radiatively efficient, high accretion rate stage, and not by the radiatively inefficient low accretion rate phase in which most local supermassive black holes are currently observed. This conclusion is particularly true of supermassive black holes in elliptical host galaxies, as expected if they have undergone merger activity in the past that would fuel quasar activity and rapid growth. We discuss models of the time evolution of accretion rates and show that they all predict significant mass growth in a prior radiatively efficient state. The only way to avoid this conclusion is through careful fine-tuning of the accretion/quasar timescale to a value that is inconsistent with observations. Our results agree with a wide range of observational inferences drawn from the quasar luminosity function and X-ray background synthesis models, but our approach has the virtue of being independent of the modeling of source populations. Models in which black holes spend the great majority of their time in low accretion rate phases are thus completely consistent both with observations implying mass gain in relatively short, high accretion rate phases and with the local distribution of accretion rates.

The Luminosity Dependence of Quasar Clustering

We investigate the luminosity dependence of quasar clustering, inspired by numerical simulations of galaxy mergers that incorporate black hole growth. These simulations have motivated a new interpretation of the quasar luminosity function. In this picture, the bright end of the quasar luminosity function consists of quasars radiating nearly at their peak luminosities, while the faint end consists mainly of very similar sources, but at dimmer phases in their evolution. We combine this model with the statistics of dark matter halos that host quasar activity. We find that, since bright and faint quasars are mostly similar sources seen in different evolutionary stages, a broad range in quasar luminosities corresponds to only a narrow range in the masses of quasar host halos. On average, bright and faint quasars reside in similar host halos. Consequently, we argue that quasar clustering should depend only weakly on luminosity. This prediction is in qualitative agreement with recent measurements of the luminosity dependence of the quasar correlation function (Croom et al.) and the galaxy-quasar cross-correlation function (Adelberger & Steidel). Future precision clustering measurements from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the Two Degree Field Survey (2dF), spanning a large range in luminosity, should provide a strong test of our model.

The Evolution in the Faint‐End Slope of the Quasar Luminosity Function

Using a new model for quasar lifetimes and light curves derived from numerical simulations of galaxy mergers that incorporate black hole growth, we study the faint-end slope of the quasar luminosity function (QLF) and its evolution with redshift. Our model motivates a new interpretation of the QLF in which the bright end consists of quasars radiating near their peak luminosities but the faint end is mostly made up of brighter peak luminosity quasars seen in less luminous phases of evolution. The faint-end slope of the QLF is then set by the behavior of the lifetime (light curve) of quasars with peak luminosities near the observed break when they are in less luminous stages of evolution. We determine the faint-end slope of the QLF from the quasar lifetime, based on a set of simulations that encompass a wide range of host galaxy, merger, black hole, and interstellar gas properties. Brighter peak luminosity (higher black hole mass) systems undergo more violent evolution, and gas is expelled and heated more rapidly in the final stages of quasar evolution, resulting in a flatter faint-end slope (as these objects fall below the observed break in the QLF more rapidly). Therefore, as the QLF break luminosity moves to higher luminosities with increasing redshift, implying a larger typical quasar peak luminosity, the faint-end QLF slope flattens. From our model, we predict the evolution of the faint-end slope of the QLF and find good agreement with observations. Although black holes grow in an antihierarchical manner (with lower mass black holes formed primarily at lower redshifts), in our picture the observed change in slope and differential or luminosity-dependent density evolution in the QLF is determined by the nontrivial, luminosity-dependent quasar lifetime and physics of quasar feedback, and not by changes in the shape of the underlying peak luminosity or active black hole mass distributions.

Determining the Properties and Evolution of Red Galaxies from the Quasar Luminosity Function

We study the link between quasars and the red galaxy population using a model for self-regulated growth of supermassive black holes in gas-rich galaxy mergers. Using a model for quasar evolution motivated by hydrodynamic merger simulations, we deconvolve the observed quasar luminosity function at various redshifts to determine the rate of formation of black holes of a given final mass. Identifying quasar activity with the formation of spheroids in the framework of the merger hypothesis, this implies a corresponding rate of formation of spheroids with given properties as a function of redshift. This allows us to predict, for the red galaxy population, the distribution of galaxy velocity dispersions; mass functions; star formation rates; luminosity functions in many observed wave bands (NUV, U, B, V, R, I, J, H, K); the total red galaxy number, mass, and luminosity densities; color distributions as a function of magnitude and velocity dispersion for several different wave bands; the distribution of mass-to-light ratios versus mass; luminosity-size relations; and the typical ages and distribution of ages (formation redshifts) as a function of mass and luminosity. For each of these quantities, we predict the evolution from redshift z = 0-6. Each of our predictions agrees well with existing observations, without the addition of tunable parameters; the essential observational inputs come from the observed quasar luminosity function. These predictions are skewed by several orders of magnitude if we adopt simpler, traditional models of quasar lifetimes instead of the more complicated evolution implied by our simulations.

A Unified, Merger‐driven Model of the Origin of Starbursts, Quasars, the Cosmic X‐Ray Background, Supermassive Black Holes, and Galaxy Spheroids

We present an evolutionary model for starbursts, quasars, and spheroidal galaxies in which mergers between gas-rich galaxies drive nuclear inflows of gas, producing intense starbursts and feeding the buried growth of supermassive black holes (BHs) until feedback expels gas and renders a briefly visible optical quasar. The quasar lifetime and obscuring column density depend on both the instantaneous and peak luminosity of the quasar, and we determine this dependence using a large set of simulations of galaxy mergers varying host galaxy properties, orbital geometry, and gas physics. We use these fits to deconvolve observed quasar luminosity functions (LFs) and obtain the evolution of the formation rate of quasars with a certain peak luminosity, n(L_peak,z). Quasars spend extended periods of time at luminosities well below peak, and so n(L_peak) has a maximum corresponding to the 'break' in the observed LF, falling off at both brighter and fainter luminosities. From n(L_peak) and our simulation results, we obtain self-consistent fits to hard and soft X-ray and optical quasar LFs and predict many observables, including: column density distributions of optical and X-ray samples, the LF of broad-line quasars in X-ray samples and the broad-line fraction as a function of luminosity, active BH mass functions, the distribution of Eddington ratios at z~0-2, the z=0 mass function of relic BHs and total mass density of BHs, and the cosmic X-ray background. In every case, our predictions agree well with observed estimates, and unlike previous modeling attempts, we are able to reproduce them without invoking any ad hoc assumptions about source properties or distributions. We provide a library of Monte Carlo realizations of our models for comparison with observations. (Abridged)

A Snapshot Survey for Gravitational Lenses amongz ≥ 4.0 Quasars. II. Constraints on the 4.0 &lt; z &lt; 5.4 Quasar Population

We report on i-band snapshot observations of 157 Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasars at 4<z<5.4 using the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to search for evidence of gravitational lensing of these sources. None of the quasars appear to be strongly lensed and multiply imaged at the angular resolution (~0.1") and sensitivity of HST. The non-detection of strong lensing in these systems constrains the z=4-5 luminosity function to an intrinsic slope of beta>-3.8 (3 sigma), assuming a break in the quasar luminosity function at M_1450^star=-24.5. This constraint is considerably stronger than the limit of beta>-4.63 obtained from the absence of lensing in four z>5.7 quasars. Such constraints are important for our understanding of the true space density of high-redshift quasars and the ionization state of the early universe.

High-frequency radio observations of the Kühr sample and the epoch-dependent luminosity function of flat-spectrum quasars

We discuss our ATCA 18.5 and 22 GHz flux density measurements of Southern extragalactic sources in the complete 5 GHz sample of Kühr et al. (1981, A&AS, 45, 367). The high frequency (5–18.5 GHz) spectral indices of steep-spectrum sources for which we have 18.5 GHz data (66% of the complete sample) are systematically steeper than the low frequency (2.7–5 GHz) ones, with median , median (), and median steepening , and there is evidence of an anti-correlation of with luminosity. The completeness of 18.5 GHz data is much higher (89%) for flat-spectrum sources (mostly quasars), which also exhibit a spectral steepening: median , median (), and median . Taking advantage of the almost complete redshift information on flat-spectrum quasars, we have estimated their 5 GHz luminosity function in several redshift bins. The results confirm that their radio luminosity density peaks at but do not provide evidence for deviations from pure luminosity evolution as hinted at by other data sets. A comparison of our 22 GHz flux densities with WMAP K-band data for flat-spectrum sources suggests that WMAP flux densities may be low by a median factor of 1.2. The extrapolations of 5 GHz counts and luminosity functions of flat-spectrum radio quasars using the observed distribution of the 5–18.5 GHz spectral indices match those derived directly from WMAP data, indicating that the high frequency WMAP survey does not detect any large population of FSRQs with anomalous spectra.

Active Galactic Nuclei In Cosmological Simulations — I. Formation of black holes and spheroids through mergers

The Active Galactic Nuclei In Cosmological Simulations (AGNICS) project includes AGN into the GalICS hybrid (N-body + semi-analytic) model to explore the quasar-galaxy link in a cosmological perspective. The key problems are the quasar fuelling mechanism, the origin of the BH to bulge mass relation, the causal and chronological link between BH growth and galaxy formation, the properties of quasar hosts and the role of AGN feedback in galaxy formation. This first paper has two goals: to describe the general structure and the assumptions of the method, and to apply AGNICS to studying the joint formation of BHs and spheroids in galaxy mergers. We investigate under what conditions this scenario can reproduce the local BH distribution and the evolution of the quasar population. AGNICS contains two star formation modes: a quiescent one in discs and a starburst one in protospheroids, the latter triggered by mergers and disc instabilities. We assume that BH growth is linked to the starburst mode. The simplest version of this scenario, in which the BH accretion rate and the star formation rate in the starburst component are simply related by a constant of proportionality, does not to reproduce the cosmic evolution of the quasar population. A model in which this relation is modulated by a scaling with the square root of the starburst gas density can explain the evolution of the quasar luminosity function in B-band and X-rays (accounting for the obscuration inferred from X-ray studies). The scatter and the tilt that this model introduces in the BH-to-bulge mass relation are within the observational constraints. The quasar contribution grows with bolometric luminosity and for a given bulge mass the most massive BHs are in the bulges with the oldest stars.

First Results from the Canada‐France High‐zQuasar Survey: Constraints on thez= 6 Quasar Luminosity Function and the Quasar Contribution to Reionization

We present preliminary results of a new quasar survey being undertaken with multicolor optical imaging from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. The current data consist of 3.83 deg2 of imaging in the i' and z' filters to a 10 σ limit of z' -3.2 at 95% confidence. We find that the comoving space density of quasars brighter than M1450 = -23.5 declines by a factor of >25 from z = 2 to 6, mirroring the decline observed for high-luminosity quasars. We consider the contribution of the quasar population to the ionizing photon density at z = 6 and the implications for reionization. We show that the current constraints on the quasar population give an ionizing photon density 30% that of the star-forming galaxy population. We conclude that active galactic nuclei make a negligible contribution to the reionization of hydrogen at z ~ 6.

Discovery of an Optically Faint Quasar at z = 5.70 and Implications for the Faint Endof the Quasar Luminosity Function

We present observations of an optically faint quasar, RD J114816.2+525339 (hereafter RD J1148+5253), discovered from deep multicolor observations of the field around the z = 6.42 quasar SDSS J1148+5251. The two quasars have a projected separation of 109'' and both are outliers in r - z versus z - J color-color space. Keck spectroscopy reveals RD J1148+5253 to be a broad absorption line quasar at z = 5.70. With zAB = 23.0, RD J1148+5253 is 3.3 mag fainter than SDSS J1148+5251, making it the faintest quasar known at z > 5.5. This object was identified in a survey of ≈2.5 deg2. The implied surface density of quasars at these redshifts and luminosities is broadly consistent with previous extrapolations of the faint end of the quasar luminosity function and supports the idea that active galaxies provide only a minor component of the reionizing ultraviolet flux at these redshifts.

Luminosity‐dependent Quasar Lifetimes: Reconciling the Optical and X‐Ray Quasar Luminosity Functions

We consider implications of our new model of quasar lifetimes and light curves for the quasar luminosity function (LF) at different frequencies and redshifts. In our picture, quasars evolve rapidly and the lifetime depends on both their instantaneous and peak luminosities. The bright end of the LF traces the peak intrinsic quasar activity, but the faint end consists of quasars that are either undergoing exponential growth to much larger masses and luminosities or are in sub-Eddington quiescent states going into or coming out of a period of peak activity. The break in the observed LF corresponds directly to the maximum in the intrinsic distribution of peak luminosities, which falls off at both brighter and fainter luminosities. We study this model using simulations of galaxy mergers that successfully reproduce a wide range of observed quasar phenomena, including the observed column density distribution. By combining quasar lifetimes and the distribution of maximum quasar luminosities determined from the observed hard X-ray LF with the corresponding luminosity and host system-dependent column densities, we produce the expected soft X-ray and B-band LFs. Our predictions agree exceptionally well with the observed LFs at all observed luminosities over the redshift range considered (z ? 1) without invoking any ad hoc assumptions about an obscured population of sources. Our results also suggest that observed correlations in hard X-ray samples between the obscured fraction of quasars and luminosity can be explained in the context of our model by the expulsion of surrounding gas due to heating from accretion feedback energy as a quasar nears its peak luminosity and final black hole mass.

The impact of energy feedback on quasar evolution and black hole demographics

We investigate how accretion episodes onto massive black holes power quasars and AGN while they accumulate mass into the holes. We compute both the trend and the stochastic component to the trigger of the accretion events, as provided by structure buildup after the hierarchical paradigm. We base on host galaxy evolution proceeding from the protogalactic era at redshifts z > 2.5 dominated by major merging events in high density regions, to the subsequent era marked by galaxy-galaxy interactions in newly forming groups. These dynamical events perturb the gravitational equilibrium of the gas reservoir in the hosts, and trigger recurrent accretion episodes controlled by energy feedback from the very source emission onto the surrounding gas. Depletion of the latter by these events (adding to quiescent star formation) concurs with the slowing down of the clustering to cause a fast drop of the activity in dense regions. Meanwhile, in the field later and rarer events are triggered by interactions of still gas-rich galaxies, and eventually by captures of dwarf satellite galaxies; these are also included in our analytic model. Thus we compute the quasar and AGN luminosity functions; we find these to brighten and rise from z ~ 6 to z ~ 2.5, and then toward z ~ 0 to dim and fall somewhat, in detailed agreement with the observations. We predict that for z < 2.5 the mass distribution of the holes progressively rises and shifts rightwards; we compare our results with the local data. We also find that downward of z ~ 2.5 the Eddington ratios related to emitting, most massive holes drift below unity on average, with a widening scatter; meanwhile, some smaller holes flare up closer to the Eddington limit.