Related papers: Modeling Quasar UV/Optical Variability with the Co…
We present quasar bolometric corrections using the [O III] $\lambda5007$ narrow emission line luminosity based on the detailed spectral energy distributions of 53 bright quasars at low to moderate redshift ($0.0345<z<1.0002$). We adopted…
Using archival observations recorded over a 5+ year timeframe with the NASA Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) satellite, we present a study of the ultraviolet (UV) variability of 4360 quasars of redshifts up to z=2.5 that have optical…
Testing the standard Shakura-Sunyaev model of accretion is a challenging task because the central region of quasars where accretion takes place is unresolved with telescopes. The analysis of microlensing in gravitationally lensed quasars is…
Active galactic nuclei (AGN) have been observed to vary stochastically with 10-20 rms amplitudes over a range of optical wavelengths where the emission arises in an accretion disk. Since the accretion disk is unlikely to vary coherently,…
We present preliminary results of the CIDA Equatorial Variability Survey (CEVS), looking for quasar (hereafter QSO) candidates near the Galactic plane. The CEVS contains photometric data from extended and adjacent regions of the Milky Way…
Neustadt & Kochanek (2022, hereafter NK22) proposed a new method to reconstruct the temperature perturbation map (as functions of time and disc radius) of AGN accretion discs using multi-wavelength photometric light curves. We apply their…
Current estimates of the normalized accretion rates of quasars (L/L_Edd), rely on measuring the velocity widths of broad optical-UV emission lines (e.g., H$\beta$ and Mg II $\lambda2800$). However, such lines tend to be weak or inaccessible…
We present the results of a systematic search for quasars in the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey exhibiting both strong photometric and spectroscopic variability over a decadal baseline. We identify 73 sources with specific patterns of…
We use simple models of the spatial structure of the quasar broad line region (BLR) to investigate the properties of so-called ghostly damped Lyman-{\alpha} (DLA) systems detected in SDSS data. These absorbers are characterized by the…
We have compiled a sample of 14 of the optically brightest radio-quiet quasars ($m_{i}$~$\le$~17.5 and $z$~$\ge$~1.9) in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 5 quasar catalog that have C IV mini-BALs present in their spectra. X-ray…
We present new spectroscopic observations that are part of our continuing monitoring campaign of 88 quasars at z<0.7 whose broad H$\beta$ lines are offset from their systemic redshifts by a few thousand km/s. These quasars have been…
In merger-driven models of massive galaxy evolution, the luminous quasar phase is expected to be accompanied by vigorous star formation in quasar host galaxies. In this paper, we use high column density Damped Lyman Alpha (DLA) systems…
The recent compilation of quasar (QSO) X-ray and UV flux measurements include QSOs that appear to not be standardizable via the X-ray luminosity and UV luminosity ($L_X-L_{UV}$) relation and so should not be used to constrain cosmological…
We present new measurements of the quasar autocorrelation from a sample of \~80,000 photometrically-classified quasars taken from SDSS DR1. We find a best-fit model of $\omega(\theta) = (0.066\pm^{0.026}_{0.024})\theta^{-(0.98\pm0.15)}$ for…
We use both simulated and real quasar light curves to explore modeling photometric reverberation-mapping (RM) data as a stochastic process. We do this using modifications to our previously developed RM method based on modeling quasar…
Microlensing by stars in the lens galaxy of a gravitationally lensed quasar is a phenomenon that can selectively magnify quasar subregions, producing observable changes in the continuum brightness or distortions in the emission line…
We compiled a catalogue of about 4000 SDSS quasars including individual estimators V for the variability strength, virial black hole masses M, and mass accretion rates dM/dt from the Davis-Laor scaling relation. We confirm significant…
We present reverberation mapping results from the first year of combined spectroscopic and photometric observations of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Reverberation Mapping Project. We successfully recover reverberation time delays between the…
We use semi-analytic modeling on top of the Millennium simulation to study the joint formation of galaxies and their embedded supermassive black holes. Our goal is to test scenarios in which black hole accretion and quasar activity are…
Active galactic nuclei (AGN) that show strong rest-frame optical/UV variability in their blue continuum and broad line emission are classified as "changing-look" AGN, or at higher luminosities changing look quasars (CLQs). These…