Fe II Diagnostic Tools for Quasars

Details Fe II Diagnostic Tools for Quasars Fe II Diagnostic Tools for Quasars

2004-04-29

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0404593v1

Astrophys.J. 611 (2004) 780-785

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

ApJ accepted

Scientific paper

10.1086/422303

The enrichment of Fe, relative to alpha-elements such as O and Mg, represents a potential means to determine the age of quasars and probe the galaxy formation epoch. To explore how \ion{Fe}{2} emission in quasars is linked to physical conditions and abundance, we have constructed a 830-level \ion{Fe}{2} model atom and investigated through photoionization calculations how \ion{Fe}{2} emission strengths depend on non-abundance factors. We have split \ion{Fe}{2} emission into three major wavelength bands, \ion{Fe}{2} (UV), \ion{Fe}{2}(Opt1), and \ion{Fe}{2}(Opt2), and explore how the \ion{Fe}{2}(UV)/\ion{Mg}{2}, \ion{Fe}{2}(UV)/\ion{Fe}{2}(Opt1) and \ion{Fe}{2}(UV)/\ion{Fe}{2}(Opt2) emission ratios depend upon hydrogen density and ionizing flux in broad-line regions (BLR's) of quasars. Our calculations show that: 1) similar \ion{Fe}{2}(UV)/\ion{Mg}{2} ratios can exist over a wide range of physical conditions; 2) the \ion{Fe}{2}(UV)/\ion{Fe}{2}(Opt1) and \ion{Fe}{2}(UV)/\ion{Fe}{2}(Opt2) ratios serve to constrain ionizing luminosity and hydrogen density; and 3) flux measurements of \ion{Fe}{2} bands and knowledge of ionizing flux provide tools to derive distances to BLR's in quasars. To derive all BLR physical parameters with uncertainties, comparisons of our model with observations of a large quasar sample at low redshift ($z<1$) is desirable. The STIS and NICMOS spectrographs aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) offer the best means to provide such observations.

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