1304.5573 (Coleman M. Krawczyk et al.)

Mean Spectral Energy Distributions and Bolometric Corrections for Luminous Quasars    [PDF]

Coleman M. Krawczyk, Gordon T. Richards, Sajjan S. Mehta, Michael S. Vogeley, S. C. Gallagher, Karen M. Leighly, Nicholas P. Ross, Donald P. Schneider

We explore the mid-infrared (mid-IR) through ultraviolet (UV) spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of 119,652 luminous broad-lined quasars with 0.0641.6; the latter is a possible indicator of the strength of the accretion disk wind, which is expected to be SED dependent. Luminosity-dependent mean SEDs show that, relative to the high-luminosity SED, low-luminosity SEDs exhibit a harder (bluer) far-UV spectral slope, a redder optical continuum, and less hot dust. Mean SEDs constructed instead as a function of UV emission line properties reveal changes that are consistent with known Principal Component Analysis (PCA) trends. A potentially important contribution to the bolometric correction is the unseen extream-UV (EUV) continuum. Our work suggests that lower-luminosity quasars and/or quasars with disk-dominated broad emission lines may require an extra continuum component in the EUV that is not present (or much weaker) in high-luminosity quasars with strong accretion disk winds. As such, we consider four possible models and explore the resulting bolometric corrections. Understanding these various SED-dependent effects will be important for accurate determination of quasar accretion rates.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1304.5573