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Broad Absorption Line Variability on Multi-Year Timescales in a Large Quasar Sam- Ple; Filiz Ak, N., Brandt, W

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Broad Absorption Line Variability on Multi-Year Timescales in a Large Quasar Sam- Ple; Filiz Ak, N., Brandt, W The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Science BROAD ABSORPTION LINE VARIABILITY ON MULTI-YEAR TIMESCALES IN A LARGE QUASAR SAMPLE A Dissertation in Astronomy and Astrophysics by Nurten Filiz Ak c 2014 Nurten Filiz Ak Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2014 The dissertation of Nurten Filiz Ak was reviewed and approved∗ by the following: William Nielsen Brandt Distinguished Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Dissertation Adviser Chair of Committee Donald Schneider Distinguished Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Head of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics Michael Eracleous Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Mercedes Richards Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Benjamin Owen Professor of Physics Steinn Sigurdsson Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Chair of the Graduate Program of Astronomy and Astrophysics ∗Signatures on file in the Graduate School. iii Abstract Outflows launched near the central supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are a common and important component of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Outflows in luminous AGNs (i.e., quasars) play a key role in mass accretion onto SMBH as well as in the feedback into host galaxies. The most prominent signature of such outflows appears as broad absorption lines (BALs) that are blueshifted from the emission line with a few thousands kms−1 velocities. In this dissertation, I place further constrains upon the size scale, internal structure, dynamics, and evolution of the outflows investigating profiles, properties, and variation characteristics of BAL troughs. I present observational results on BAL troughs in a large quasar sample utilizing spectroscopic observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey spanning on multi-year timescales. The results presented here, for the first time, provide a large and well-defined variability data base capable of discriminating between time-dependent hydrodynamic wind calculations in a statistically powerful manner. In a study of 582 quasars, I present 21 examples of BAL trough disappearance. Ap- proximately 3.3% of BAL quasars show disappearing C iv trough on rest-frame timescales of 1.1–3.9 yr. BAL disappearance appears to occur mainly for shallow and weak or moderate- strength absorption troughs but not the strongest ones. When one BAL trough in a quasar spectrum disappears, the other present troughs usually weaken. Possible causes of such coordinated variations could be disk-wind rotation or variations of shielding gas that lead to variations of ionizing-continuum radiation. I present a detailed study on the variability of 428 C iv and 235 Si iv BAL troughs using a systematically observed sample of 291 BAL quasars. BAL variation distributions indicate that BAL disappearance is an extreme type of general BAL variability, rather than a qualitatively distinct phenomenon. The high observed frequency of BAL variability on multi-year timescales is generally supportive of models where most BAL absorption arises at radii of 10–1000 light days. Average lifetime for a BAL trough along our line-of-sight is a few thousand years which is long compared to the orbital time of the accretion disk at the wind-launching radius. We have examined if BAL variations on several timescales depend upon quasar properties, including quasar luminosity, Eddington luminosity ratio, black hole mass, redshift, and radio loudness. Within the ranges of these properties spanned by our sample, we do not find any strong dependences. The coordinated trough variability of BAL quasars with multiple troughs suggests that changes in ”shielding gas” may play a significant role in driving general BAL variability. I present a study investigating the dependence of C iv BAL properties and variation characteristics on accompanying Si iv and Al iii absorption. Results of this study show that C iv BAL trough shapes, depths, velocity widths and strengths show a strong dependence on the presence of Si iv and Al iii BAL troughs at corresponding velocities. Similarly, the variation characteristics and depth variation profiles of C iv BAL troughs also show a iv strong connection to BAL troughs in these transitions. Using these ions as a basic tracer of ionization level of the absorbing gas, systematic measurements of variability and profiles for a large sample of C iv, Si iv, and Al iii BAL troughs present observational evidences of the relation between ionization level, column density and kinematics of outflows. Utilizing observational investigations on a large BAL quasar sample, we show that ionization level, column density and kinematics of outflows show correlated object-to-object differences. We present a detailed comparison between the observational results of this study and the well studied disk-wind model of quasar outflows, which suggests that the wind is launched from the accretion disk at 1016–1017 cm and radiatively driven by ∼ UV line pressure. Results of this study show that lines-of-sight with different viewing inclinations successfully explain the characteristics and the differences between those three C iv trough groups with a good agreement to our observational findings. v Table of Contents List of Tables ....................................... viii List of Figures ...................................... ix Acknowledgments .................................... xii Chapter 1. Introduction ................................. 1 1.1 Active Galactic Nuclei . 1 1.2 BroadAbsorptionLineQuasars . 1 1.3 A Large-Scale Survey of Quasar BAL Variability with SDSS BOSS.. 3 1.4 OutlineoftheThesis............................ 3 Chapter 2. Broad Absorption Line Disappearance on Multi-Year Timescales in a Large Quasar Sample ............................ 6 2.1 Introduction................................. 6 2.2 Observations and Sample Selection . 8 2.2.1 Observations ............................ 8 2.2.2 SampleSelection .......................... 9 2.3 Identification of Disappearing BALs . 11 2.3.1 Continuum Fit and Normalization . 11 2.3.2 Measurements of BAL Properties . 13 2.3.3 Selection of Disappearing BALs . 15 2.3.4 Notes on Specific Objects . 22 2.4 Statistical Properties of Disappearing BALs . ...... 26 2.4.1 How Common is BAL Disappearance? . 26 2.4.2 Luminosities, Black-Hole Masses, Reddening, and Radio Prop- erties of Quasars with Disappearing BAL Troughs . 27 2.4.3 EWs, Depths, Velocities, and Widths of Disappearing BAL Troughs 30 2.4.4 Connections Between Disappearing and Non-Disappearing Troughs 32 2.5 SummaryandFutureWork ........................ 36 Chapter 3. Broad Absorption Line Variation on Multi-Year Timescales in a Large Quasar Sample ............................... 43 3.1 Introduction................................. 43 3.2 Observations and Sample Selection . 45 3.2.1 Observations ............................ 45 3.2.2 SampleSelection .......................... 46 vi 3.3 DataPreparationandAnalysis . 47 3.3.1 Basic Spectral Preparation . 47 3.3.2 Identification and Measurements of BAL Troughs . 48 3.3.3 Identification and Measurements of Variable BAL Troughs... 54 3.4 ResultsonBALVariability ........................ 55 3.4.1 Fraction of BAL Troughs and BAL Quasars Showing Variability 56 3.4.2 Velocity Widths of Variable Regions of BALs . 59 3.4.3 EW Variations as a Function of Timescale . 61 3.4.4 Distribution of EW Variations . 66 3.4.5 EW Variations as a Function of BAL-Profile Properties . 70 3.4.6 Comparison of C iv vs. Si iv EW Variations . 75 3.4.7 Coordination of EW Variations in BAL Quasars with Multiple Troughs ............................... 79 3.4.8 EW Variations as a Function of Quasar Properties . 83 3.4.8.1 Luminosity ........................ 83 3.4.8.2 Eddington Luminosity Ratio and SMBH Mass . 85 3.4.8.3 Redshift.......................... 87 3.4.8.4 RadioLoudness ..................... 87 3.5 Discussion.................................. 87 3.5.1 The Frequency of BAL Variations . 89 3.5.2 Constraints Upon BAL Lifetimes . 89 3.5.3 Relation of BAL Disappearance and Emergence to General BAL Variability.............................. 91 3.5.4 A Random-Walk Model for The Evolution of BAL Troughs . 92 3.5.5 Shielding Gas Changes as a Driver of Coordinated Multi-Trough Variability? ............................ 96 3.6 SummaryandFutureWork ........................ 97 Chapter 4. The Dependence of C iv Broad Absorption Line Properties on Accompany- ing Si iv and Al iii Absorption: Relating Quasar-Wind Ionization Levels, Kinematics, and Column Densities .................... 110 4.1 Introduction................................. 110 4.2 Observations, Sample Selection, and Data Preparation . ........ 113 4.3 Identification of BAL Troughs and Measurements . 115 4.3.1 Identification of BAL Troughs . 115 4.3.2 Measurements of BAL Troughs . 117 4.3.3 Comparisons with Mg ii, Fe ii, and P v ............. 127 4.4 Results.................................... 128 4.4.1 BAL-TroughProfiles . 128 4.4.2 C iv BAL-TroughStrengths . 128 4.4.3 C iv BAL-Trough Velocities . 132 vii 4.4.4 C iv BAL-Variation Profiles . 135 4.4.5 C iv BALEWVariability . .. .. .. .. .. .. 137 4.4.5.1 EW Variability as a Function of EW ........ 137 h i 4.4.5.2 BAL-Trough Samples with Matching EWs . 138 4.4.6 EW Variation Correlations . 141 4.4.6.1 EW Variation Correlations for the C ivS0 Sample . 142 4.4.6.2 EW Variation Correlations for the C ivSA Sample . 143 4.5 Summary of Results, Discussion, and Future Work . 146 Chapter 5. Summary .................................. 152 Bibliography ....................................... 154 viii
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