Wednesday, November 21, 2012

1211.4837 (M. A. DiPompeo et al.)

An Infrared Excess Identified in Radio-Loud Broad Absorption Line Quasars    [PDF]

M. A. DiPompeo, J. C. Runnoe, M. S. Brotherton, A. D. Myers
If broad absorption line (BAL) quasars represent a high covering fraction evolutionary state (even if this is not the sole factor governing the presence of BALs), it is expected that they should show an excess of mid-infrared radiation compared to normal quasars. Some previous studies have suggested that this is not the case. We perform the first analysis of the IR properties of radio-loud BAL quasars, using IR data from WISE and optical (rest-frame ultraviolet) data from SDSS, and compare the BAL quasar sample with a well-matched sample of unabsorbed quasars. We find a statistically significant excess in the mid- to near-infrared luminosities of BAL quasars, particularly at rest-frame wavelengths of 1.5 and 4 microns. Our sample was previously used to show that BALs are observed along many lines of sight towards quasars, but with an overabundance of more edge-on sources, suggesting that orientation factors into the appearance of BALs. The evidence here---of a difference in IR luminosities between BAL quasars and unabsorbed quasars---may be ascribed to evolution. This suggests that a merging of the current BAL paradigms is needed to fully describe the class.
View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1211.4837

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