arXiv subjects

G. M. Stirpe

Publications and source records attributed to G. M. Stirpe.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

High-redshift quasars along the Main Sequence

We aim to evaluate the behaviour of our 22 high-redshift (2.2 < z < 3.7) and high-luminosity (47.39 < Lbol < 48.36) quasars in the context of the 4-Dimensional Eigenvector 1. Our approach involves studying quasar physics through spectroscopic exploration of UV and optical emission line diagnostics. We are using new observations from ISAAC/VLT and mainly from the SDSS to cover the optical and the UV rest-frames, respectively. Emission lines are characterised both through a quantitative parametrisation of the line profiles, and by decomposing the emission line profiles using multicomponent fitting routines. We provide spectrophotometric properties and line profile measurements for Hb+[O iii], as well as for Si iv+O iv], C iv+He ii and the 1900 blend. Six out of the 22 objects present a significant blueshifted component on the Hb profile, and in 14/22 cases an Hb outflowing component associated to [O iii] is detected. The majority of [O iii] emission line profiles show blueshifted velocities larger than 250 km s^-1. [O iii] and C iv blueshifts show very high amplitudes and a high degree of correlation. Line width and shift are correlated for both [O iii] and C iv, suggesting that emission from outflowing gas is providing a substantial broadening to both lines. Otherwise, the links between C iv centroid velocity at half intensity (c(1/2)), Eddington ratio (L/LEdd), and bolometric luminosity are found to be in agreement with previous studies of high-luminosity quasars. Our analysis suggests that the behaviour of quasars of very high luminosity all along the main sequence is strongly affected by powerful outflows involving a broad range of spatial scales. The main sequence correlations remain valid at high redshift and high luminosity even if a systematic increase in line width is observed. Scaling laws based on UV Al iii and Hb emission lines are equally reliable estimators of MBH.

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arXiv2022

The intermediate-ionization lines as virial broadening estimators for Population A quasars

The identification of a virial broadening estimator in the quasar UV rest frame suitable for black hole mass computation at high redshift has become an important issue. We compare the HI Balmer H-beta line width to the ones of two intermediate ionization lines: the Aliii 1860 doublet and the Ciii] 1909 line, over a wide interval of redshift and luminosity (0 < z < 3.5; 43 < logL < 48.5 [erg a/]), for 48 sources belonging to the quasar population characterized by mid-to-high values of the Eddington ratio (Population A). The present analysis indicates that the line width of Aliii 1860 and H-beta are highly correlated, and can be considered equivalent for most Population A quasars over five orders of magnitude in luminosity; forCiii] 1909, multiplication by a constant correction factor xi ~ 1.25 is sufficient to bring the FWHM of Ciii] in agreement with the one of H-betaa. The statistical concordance between low-ionization and intermediate-ionization lines suggests that they predominantly arise from the same virialized part of the broad line region. However, blueshifts of modest amplitude (few hundred km /s) with respect to the quasar rest frame and an excess (~ 1.1) Aliii broadening with respect to H-beta are found in a fraction of our sample. Scaling laws to estimate M_BH of high redshift quasar using the Aliii and the Ciii] line widths have rms scatter ~ 0.3 dex. The Aliii scaling law takes the form log M_BH ~ 0.58 log L1700,44 + 2 log FWHM + 0.49 [solar masses].

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arXiv2020

The quasar main sequence and its potential for cosmology

The main sequence offers a method for the systematization of quasar spectral properties. Extreme FeII emitters (or extreme Population A, xA) are believed to be sources accreting matter at very high rates. They are easily identifiable along the quasar main sequence, in large spectroscopic surveys over a broad redshift range. The very high accretion rate makes it possible that massive black holes hosted in xA quasars radiate at a stable, extreme luminosity-to-mass ratio. After reviewing the basic interpretation of the main sequence, we report on the possibility of identifying virial broadening estimators from low-ionization line widths, and provide evidence of the conceptual validity of redshift-independent luminosities based on virial broadening for a known luminosity-to-mass ratio.

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arXiv2020

Extreme quasars as distance indicators in cosmology

Quasars accreting matter at very high rates (known as extreme Population A [xA] quasars, possibly associated with super-Eddington accreting massive black holes) may provide a new class of distance indicators covering cosmic epochs from present day up to less than 1 Gyr from the Big Bang. At a more fundamental level, xA quasars are of special interest in studies of the physics of AGNs and host galaxy evolution. However, their observational properties are largely unknown. xA quasars can be identified in relatively large numbers from major optical surveys over a broad range of redshifts, thanks to selection criteria defined from the systematic changes along the quasars main sequence. It has been possible to build a sample of about 250 quasars at low and intermediate redshift, and larger samples can be easily selected from the latest data releases of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. A large sample can clarify the main properties of xA quasars which are expected - unlike the general population of quasars - to radiate at an extreme, well defined Eddington ratio with small scatter. As a result of the small scatter in Eddington ratio shown by xA quasars, we propose a method to derive the main cosmological parameters based on redshift-independent "virial luminosity" estimates from measurements of emission line widths, roughly equivalent to the luminosity estimates based from line width in early and late type galaxies. A major issue related to the cosmological application of the xA quasar luminosity estimates from line widths is the identification of proper emission lines whose broadening is predominantly virial over a wide range of redshift and luminosity. We report on preliminary developments using the AlIII 1860 intermediate ionization line and the Hydrogen Balmer line H-beta as virial broadening estimators, and we briefly discuss the perspective of the method based on xA quasars.

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arXiv2019

Quasar emission lines as virial luminosity estimators

Quasars accreting matter at very high rates (known as extreme Population A [xA]) may provide a new class of distance indicators covering cosmic epochs from present day up to less than 1 Gyr from the Big Bang. We report on the developments of a method that is based on "virial luminosity" estimates from measurements of emission line widths of xA quasars. The approach is conceptually equivalent to the virial estimates based on early and late type galaxies. The main issues related to the cosmological application of luminosity estimates from xA quasar line widths are the identification of proper emission lines whose broadening is predominantly virial over a wide range of luminosity, and the assessment of the effect of the emitting region orientation with respect to the line of sight. We report on recent developments concerning the use of the AlIII 1860 intermediate ionisation line and of the Hydrogen Balmer line H$β$ as "virial broadening estimators."

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arXiv2019

Black hole mass estimates in quasars - A comparative analysis of high- and low-ionization lines

The inter-line comparison between high- and low-ionization emission lines has yielded a wealth of information on the quasar broad line region (BLR) structure and dynamics, including perhaps the earliest unambiguous evidence in favor of a disk + wind structure in radio-quiet quasars. We carried out an analysis of the CIV 1549 and Hbeta line profiles of 28 Hamburg-ESO high luminosity quasars and of 48 low-z, low luminosity sources in order to test whether the high-ionization line CIV 1549 width could be correlated with Hbeta and be used as a virial broadening estimator. We analyze intermediate- to high-S/N, moderate resolution optical and NIR spectra covering the redshifted CIV and H$β$ over a broad range of luminosity log L ~ 44 - 48.5 [erg/s] and redshift (0 - 3), following an approach based on the quasar main sequence. The present analysis indicates that the line width of CIV 1549 is not immediately offering a virial broadening estimator equivalent to H$β$. At the same time a virialized part of the BLR appears to be preserved even at the highest luminosities. We suggest a correction to FWHM(CIV) for Eddington ratio (using the CIV blueshift as a proxy) and luminosity effects that can be applied over more than four dex in luminosity. Great care should be used in estimating high-L black hole masses from CIV 1549 line width. However, once corrected FWHM(CIV) values are used, a CIV-based scaling law can yield unbiased MBH values with respect to the ones based on H$β$ with sample standard deviation ~ 0.3 dex.

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arXiv2019

Quasars: from the Physics of Line Formation to Cosmology

Quasars accreting matter at very high rates (known as extreme Population A [xA] or super-Eddington accreting massive black holes) provide a new class of distance indicators covering cosmic epochs from the present-day Universe up to less than 1 Gyr from the Big Bang. The very high accretion rate makes it possible that massive black holes hosted in xA quasars radiate at a stable, extreme luminosity-to-mass ratio. This in turns translates into stable physical and dynamical conditions of the mildly ionized gas in the quasar low-ionization line emitting region. In this contribution, we analyze the main optical and UV spectral properties of extreme Population A quasars that make them easily identifiable in large spectroscopic surveys at low-z (z < 1) and intermediate-z (2 < z < 2.6), and the physical conditions that are derived for the formation of their emission lines. Ultimately, the analysis supports the possibility of identifying a virial broadening estimator from low-ionization line widths, and the conceptual validity of the redshift-independent luminosity estimates based on virial broadening for a known luminosity-to-mass ratio.

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arXiv2018

Narrow-line Seyfert 1s: what is wrong in a name?

Narrow-line Seyfert 1s (NLSy1s) are an ill-defined class. Work done over the past 20 years as well as recent analyses show a continuity in properties (e.g., Balmer line profiles, blueshifts of high-ionization lines) between sources with FWHM above and below 2000 km/s, the defining boundary of NLSy1s. This finding alone suggests that comparisons between samples of NLSy1s and rest of broad-line AGNs are most likely biased. NLSy1s can be properly contextualized by their location on the quasar main sequence originally defined by Sulentic et al 2000. At one end, NLSy1s encompass sources with strong FeII emission and associated with high Eddington ratio that hold the promise of becoming useful distance indicators; at the other end, at least some of them are sources with broad profiles seen face-on. Any rigid FWHM limit gives rise to some physical ambiguity, as the FWHM of low-ionization lines depends in a complex way on mass, Eddington ratio, orientation, and luminosity. In addition, if the scaling derived from luminosity and virial dynamics applies to the broad line regions, NLSy1s at luminosity higher than 1E47 erg/s become physically impossible. Therefore, in a broader context, a proper subdivision of two distinct classes of AGNs and quasars may be achieved by the distinction between Pop. A and B with boundary at = 4000 km/s in samples at z < 1, or on the basis of spectrophotometric properties which may ultimately be related to differences in accretion modes if high-luminosity quasars are considered.

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arXiv2018

A main sequence for quasars

The last 25 years saw a major step forward in the analysis of optical and UV spectroscopic data of large quasar samples. Multivariate statistical approaches have led to the definition of systematic trends in observational properties that are the basis of physical and dynamical modeling of quasar structure. We discuss the empirical correlates of the so-called "main sequence" associated with the quasar Eigenvector 1, its governing physical parameters and several implications on our view of the quasar structure, as well as some luminosity effects associated with the virialized component of the line emitting regions. We also briefly discuss quasars in a segment of the main sequence that includes the strongest FeII emitters. These sources show a small dispersion around a well-defined Eddington ratio value, a property which makes them potential Eddington standard candles.

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arXiv2017

Quasar massive ionized outflows traced by CIV λ1549 and [OIII]λλ4959,5007

The most luminous quasars (with bolometric luminosities are 1E47 erg/s) show a high prevalence of CIV λ1549 and [OIII]λλ4959,5007 emission line profiles with strong blueshifts. Blueshifts are interpreted as due to Doppler effect and selective obscuration, and indicate outflows occurring over a wide range of spatial scales. We found evidence in favor of the nuclear origin of the outflows diagnosed by [OIII]λλ 4959,5007. The ionized gas mass, kinetic power, and mechanical thrust are extremely high, and suggest widespread feedback effects on the host galaxies of very luminous quasars, at cosmic epochs between 2 and 6 Gyr from the Big Bang. In this mini-review we summarize results obtained by our group and reported in several major papers in the last few years with an eye on challenging aspects of quantifying feedback effects in large samples of quasars.

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arXiv2017

What does Civλ1549 tell us about the physical driver of the Eigenvector Quasar Sequence?

Broad emission lines in quasars enable us to "resolve" structure and kinematics of the broad line emitting region (BLR) thought to in- volve an accretion disk feeding a supermassive black hole. Interpretation of broad line measures within the 4DE1 formalism simplifies the apparent confusion among such data by contrasting and unifying properties of so-called high and low accreting Population A and B sources. Hβ serves as an estimator of black hole mass, Eddington ratio and source rest frame, the latter a valuable input for Civλ1549 studies which allow us to isolate the blueshifted wind component. Optical and HST-UV spectra yield Hβ and Civλ1549 spectra for low-luminosity sources while VLT-ISAAC and FORS and TNG-LRS provide spectra for high Luminosity sources. New high S/N data for Civ in high-luminosity quasars are presented here for comparison with the other previously published data. Comparison of Hβ and Civλ1549 profile widths/shifts indicates that much of the emission from the two lines arise in regions with different structure and kinematics. Covering a wide range of luminosity and redshift shows evidence for a correlation between Civλ1549 blueshift and source Eddington ratio, with a weaker trend with source luminosity (similar amplitude outflows are seen over 4 of the 5 dex luminosity range in our combined samples). At low luminosity (z < 0.7) only Population A sources show evidence for a significant outflow while at high luminosity the outflow signature begins to appear in Population B quasars as well.

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arXiv2015

The most powerful quasar outflows as revealed by the Civ λ1549 resonance line

While quasar outflows may be quasi-ubiquitous, there are significant differences on a source-by- source basis. These differences can be organized along the 4D Eigenvector 1 sequence: at least at low z, with only Population A sources radiating at relatively high Eddington ratio and showing prominent high-velocity outflows in Civ λ1549 line profiles. We discuss in this paper VLT-FORS observations of Civ λ1549 emission line profiles for a high-luminosity sample of Hamburg- ESO quasars and how they are affected by outflow motion as a function of quasar luminosity. Our high- luminosity sample has the notable advantage that the rest frame has been accurately determined from previous VLT-ISAAC observations of Hβ in the J, H, and K bands. This makes measures of inter-line velocity shifts accurate and free of systemic biases. As the redshift increases and the luminosity of the brightest quasars increases, powerful, high-velocity outflows become more frequent. We discuss the outflow contextualisation, fol- lowing the 4DE1 formalism, as a tool for understanding the nature of the so-called weak lined quasars (WLQ) discovered in recent years as a new, poorly understood class of quasars. We estimate the kinetic power associ- ated with Civ λ1549 outflows and suggest that the host galaxies in the most luminous sources likely experience significant feedback.

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arXiv2015

Blue outliers among intermediate redshift quasars

[Oiii]λλ4959,5007 "blue outliers" -- that are suggestive of outflows in the narrow line region of quasars -- appear to be much more common at intermediate z (high luminosity) than at low z. About 40% of quasars in a Hamburg ESO intermediate-z sample of 52 sources qualify as blue outliers (i.e., quasars with [OIII] λλ4959,5007 lines showing large systematic blueshifts with respect to rest frame). We discuss major findings on what has become an intriguing field in active galactic nuclei research and stress the relevance of blue outliers to feedback and host galaxy evolution.

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arXiv2015

3C 57 as an Atypical Radio-Loud Quasar: Implications for the Radio-Loud/Radio-Quiet Dichotomy

Lobe-dominated radio-loud (LD RL) quasars occupy a restricted domain in the 4D Eigenvector 1 (4DE1) parameter space which implies restricted geometry/physics/kinematics for this subclass compared to the radio-quiet (RQ) majority of quasars. We discuss how this restricted domain for the LD RL parent population supports the notion for a RQ-RL dichotomy among Type 1 sources. 3C 57 is an atypical RL quasar that shows both uncertain radio morphology and falls in a region of 4DE1 space where RL quasars are rare. We present new radio flux and optical spectroscopic measures designed to verify its atypical optical/UV spectroscopic behaviour and clarify its radio structure. The former data confirms that 3C 57 falls off the 4DE1 quasar "main sequence" with both extreme optical FeII emission (R_{FeII} ~ 1) and a large CIV 1549 profile blueshift (~ -1500 km/s). These parameter values are typical of extreme Population A sources which are almost always RQ. New radio measures show no evidence for flux change over a 50+ year timescale consistent with compact steep-spectrum (CSS or young LD) over core-dominated morphology. In the 4DE1 context where LD RL are usually low L/L_{Edd} quasars we suggest that 3C 57 is an evolved RL quasar (i.e. large Black Hole mass) undergoing a major accretion event leading to a rejuvenation reflected by strong FeII emission, perhaps indicating significant heavy metal enrichment, high bolometric luminosity for a low redshift source and resultant unusually high Eddington ratio giving rise to the atypical CIV 1549.

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arXiv2008

VLT/ISAAC Spectra of the Hbeta Region in Intermediate-Redshift Quasars III. Hbeta Broad Line Profile Analysis and Inferences about BLR Structure

[Abridged] We present new VLT ISAAC spectra for 30 quasars, which we combine with previous data to yield a sample of 53 intermediate redshift (z ~ 0.9 - 3.0) sources. The sample is used to explore properties of prominent lines in the Hbeta spectral region of these very luminous quasars. We find two major trends: (1) a systematic increase of minimum FWHM Hbeta with luminosity (discussed in a previous paper). This lower FWHM envelope is best fit assuming that the narrowest sources radiate near the Eddington limit, show line emission from a virialized cloud distribution, and obey a well defined broad line region size vs. luminosity relation. (2) A systematic decrease of equivalent width of [OIII] (from W ~ 15 to ~ 1 A) with increasing source bolometric luminosity (from log L ~ 43 to log L ~ 49). Further identified trends required discrimination between so-called Population A and B sources. We generate median composite spectra in six luminosity bins Pop. A sources show reasonably symmetric Lorentzian Hbeta profiles at all luminosities while Pop. B sources require two component fits involving an unshifted broad and a redshifted very broad component. Very broad Hbeta increases in strength with increasing L while the broad component remains constant resulting in an apparent "Baldwin effect" with equivalent width decreasing from W ~ 80 to ~ 20 A over our sample luminosity range. The roughly constant equivalent width shown by the Hbeta very broad component implies production in optically-thick, photoionized gas. The onset of the redshifted very broad component appears to be a critical change that occurs near the Pop. A-B boundary at FWHM Hbeta ~ 4000 km/s which we relate to a critical Eddington ratio (~ 0.2 +/- 0.1).

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arXiv2007

Optical Spectroscopy of Active Galactic Nuclei in SA57

The cosmological evolution of X-ray-selected and optically selected Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) show different behaviours interpreted in terms of two different populations. The difference is evident mainly for low luminosity AGNs (LLAGNs), many of which are lost by optical photometric surveys. We are conducting a spectroscopical study of a composite sample of AGN candidates selected in SA57 following different searching techniques, to identify low luminosity AGNs and break down the sample into different classes of objects. AGN candidates were obtained through optical variability and/or X-ray emission. Of special interest are the extended variable objects, which are expected to be galaxies hosting LLAGNs. Among the 26 classified objects a fair number (9) show typical AGN spectra. 10 objects show Narrow Emission Line Galaxy spectra, and in most of them (8/10) optical variability suggests the presence of LLAGNs.

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arXiv2007

Line and continuum variability of two intermediate-redshift, high-luminosity quasars

It has been shown that the luminosity of AGNs and the size of their broad line region obey a simple relation of the type R=a L^g, from faint Seyfert nuclei to bright quasars, allowing single-epoch determination of the central black hole mass M=b L^g D^2 from their luminosity L and width of H_beta emission line. Adopting this mass determination for cosmological studies requires the extrapolation to high z and L of a relation whose calibration relies so far on reverberation mapping measurements performed for L<10^46 erg/s and z<0.4. We initiated a campaign for the monitoring of a few luminous, intermediate z quasars whose apparent magnitude V<15.7 allows observations with a 1.8m telescope, aimed at proving that emission lines vary and respond to continuum variations even for luminosities >10^47 erg/s, and determining eventually their M_BH from reverberation mapping. We have repeatedly performed simultaneous observations of quasars and reference stars to determine relative variability of continuum and emission lines. We describe the observations and methods of analysis. For the quasars PG1634+706 and PG1247+268 we obtain light-curves respectively for CIII], MgII and for CIV, CIII] emission lines with the relevant continua. During 3.2 years of observation, in the former case no continuum variability has been detected and the evidence for line variability is marginal, while in the latter case both continuum and line variability are detected with high significance and the line variations appear correlated with continuum variations. The detection of the emission line variability in a quasar with L~10^47 erg/s encourages the prosecution of the campaign which should provide a black hole mass estimate in other 5-6 years, constraining the M_BH-L relation in a poorly explored range of luminosity.

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arXiv2006

VLT/ISAAC Spectra of the H-beta Region in Intermediate-Redshift Quasars II. Black Hole Mass and Eddington Ratio

We derive black hole masses for a sample of about 300 AGNs in the redshift range 0 < z < 2.5. We use the same virial velocity measure (FWHM Hbeta broad component) for all sources which represents a significant improvement over previous studies. We review methods and caveats for determining AGN black hole masses via the virial assumption for motions in the gas producing low ionization broad emission lines. We derive a corrected FWHM measure for the broad component of H-beta that better estimates the virialized line emitting component by comparing our FWHM measures with a sample of reverberated sources with H-beta radial velocity dispersion measures. We also consider the FWHM of the FeII 4570 blend as a potential alternative velocity estimator. We find a range of black hole mass between log M ~ 6 - 10, where the black hole mass M is in solar masses. Estimates using corrected FWHM, as well as FWHM(Fe II) measures, reduce the number of sources with log M > 9.5 and suggest that extremely large M values (log M >~ 10) may not be realistic. Derived Eddington ratio values values show no evidence for a significant population of super-Eddington radiators especially after correction is made for sources with extreme orientation to our line of sight. Sources with FWHM(Hbeta broad component) <~ 4000 km/s show systematically higher Eddington ratio and lower M values than broader lined AGNs (including almost all radio-loud sources).

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