Statistical analysis of AlIII 1860 and CIII] 1909 emission lines as virial black hole mass estimators in quasars

Abstract

We test the usefulness of the intermediate ionisation lines AlIII 1860 and CIII] 1909 as reliable virial mass estimators for quasars. We identify a sample of 309 quasars from the SDSS DR16 in the redshift range 1.2 < z < 1.4 to have [OII] 3728 recorded on the same spectrum of AlIII 1860, SiIII 1890, and CIII] 1909. We set the systemic quasar redshift using careful measurements of [OII]. We then classified the sources as Population A, extreme Population A (xA) and Population B, and analysed the 1900\AA\ blend using multi-component models to look for systematic line shifts of the AlIII and CIII] along the quasar main sequence. We do not find significant shifts of the AlIII line peak in Pop. B and the wide majority of Pop. A. For Pop. xA, a small median blueshift of -250 km/s was observed, motivating a decomposition of the AlIII line profile into a virialized component centred at rest-frame and a blueshifted component for an outflow emission. For Pop. B objects, we proved the empirical necessity to fit a redshifted very broad component (VBC), clearly seen in CIII], and analysed the physical implications on a Pop. B composite spectrum using CLOUDY simulations. We find consistent black hole mass estimations using AlIII and CIII] as virial estimators for the bulk of Population A. AlIII (and even CIII]) is a reliable virial black hole mass estimator for Pop. A and B objects. xA sources deserve special attention due to the significant blueshifted excess observed in the line profile of AlIII, although not as large as those observed in CIV 1549.