Physics
Scientific paper
Feb 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008noao.prop..267h&link_type=abstract
NOAO Proposal ID #2008A-0267
Physics
Scientific paper
High-redshift quasars represent the final stages in the growth of super-massive black holes (SMBHs) inside massive young galaxies. The elemental abundances near quasars provide unique constraints on the coupled evolution of SMBHs and their host galaxies, e.g., on the role that quasars might play in regulating star formation and thus shaping the M_BH-M_gal mass correlation. Existing data suggest that quasar environments are metal rich, and therefore that young galactic nuclei undergo extensive star formation before the central quasars ``turn on" and the SMBHs are fully formed. However, most quasar abundance results are based on the broad emission lines (BELs). Here we propose new abundance determinations using Keck/HIRESb observations of ``associated'' absorption lines (AALs) in bright quasars at z~ 2.6 to 3.5 selected from the SDSS database. There are, surprisingly, no results like this available in the literature, yet they are essential for testing and expanding upon the BEL studies. AALs can form in a wide range of locations, from very near the quasars (in galactic nuclei) to much farther out in the host halos or beyond. Our proposed observations will constrain the location of each AAL absorber and, combined with BEL measurements in the same quasars (from the SDSS spectra), provide the first crude ``maps" of metallicity versus location in quasar hosts.
Hamann Fred
Rodriguez Hidalgo Paola
Simon Leah
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