A Statistical Study of Rest-frame Optical Emission Properties in Luminous Quasars at 2.0 < z < 2.5

Abstract

We have obtained H-band spectra of 32 luminous quasars at 2.0<z<2.5 with the Multiple Mirror Telescope. The sample contains 15 radio-loud quasars (RLQs) and 17 radio-quiet quasars (RQQs). We have measured emission line properties from the rest-frame wavelength range of approximately 4500-5500 Angstroms, by fitting the data with composite model spectra. Our analysis includes comparison of RLQs versus RQQs, as well as comparison between the broad-absorption-line quasar (BALQSO) and non-broad-absorption-line quasar (nonBALQSO) subsets of the RQQ sample. In addition, we calculated the complete correlation matrix of the measured properties. We combined our high redshift sample with the sample of 87 low redshift quasars from Boroson & Green (1992) to determine the luminosity and redshift dependences of the measured emission properties. Our main results are: (1) The RLQ sample has significantly stronger [O III]5007 emission than the RQQ sample. (2) The RLQ sample has significantly narrower (in FWHM) Hbeta broad component line profiles than the RQQ sample. (3) At the sensitivity of our observations, there are no statistically significant (>95%) differences between the rest-frame optical emission line properties of the BALQSO and nonBALQSO subsamples. This result is consistent with the view that all RQQs have broad-absorption-line clouds with a small (~10-20%) covering factor and that differences between the two types are merely a function of viewing angle and covering factor. (4) We report a previously unknown luminosity and/or redshift dependence of the narrow-line-region velocity width over the range 0<z<2.5, such that emission line widths increase with increasing luminosity. Furthermore, we find a ``Baldwin Effect&#39;&#39; for the [O III]5007 line in the RQQ-only sample over this same range in redshifts.