Related papers: The Main Sequence of quasars: the taming of the ex…
The main sequence offers a method for the systematization of quasar spectral properties. Extreme FeII emitters (or extreme Population A, xA) are believed to be sources accreting matter at very high rates. They are easily identifiable along…
The last 25 years saw a major step forward in the analysis of optical and UV spectroscopic data of large quasar samples. Multivariate statistical approaches have led to the definition of systematic trends in observational properties that…
Quasars accreting matter at very high rates (known as extreme Population A [xA] or super-Eddington accreting massive black holes) provide a new class of distance indicators covering cosmic epochs from the present-day Universe up to less…
Quasars are rapidly accreting supermassive black holes at the center of massive galaxies. They display a broad range of properties across all wavelengths, reflecting the diversity in the physical conditions of the regions close to the…
We address the effect of orientation of the accretion disk plane and the geometry of the broad-line region (BLR) as part of an effort to understand the distribution of quasars in the optical plane of the quasar main sequence. We utilize the…
This review provides an observational perspective on the fundamental properties of super-Eddington accretion onto supermassive black holes in quasars. It begins by outlining the selection criteria, particularly focusing on optical and UV…
The concept of the quasar main sequence is very attractive since it stresses correlations between various parameters and implies the underlying simplicity. In the optical plane defined by the width of the H\{beta} line and the ratio of the…
Quasars accreting matter at very high rates (known as extreme Population A [xA] quasars, possibly associated with super-Eddington accreting massive black holes) may provide a new class of distance indicators covering cosmic epochs from…
The connection between multifrequency quasar observational and physical parameters related to accretion processes is still open to debate. In the last 20 year, Eigenvector 1-based approaches developed since the early papers by Boroson and…
We address the effect of the viewing angle of the accretion disk plane and the geometry of the broad-line region (BLR) with the goal of interpreting the distribution of quasars along the main sequence (MS). We utilize photoionization code…
Quasars accreting at very high rates are believed to be prime movers of galactic evolution because of their high radiative and mechanical output. The study presented in this paper investigates a sample of six highly accreting quasars at…
I present a brief review about our ideas concerning the origin and nature of the broad line emitting gas. This is one of the outstanding problems in quasar research. I suggest the establishment of a central data base of high quality quasar…
We constrain the average episodic quasar lifetime (as in steady-state accretion) using two statistics of quasars that are recently turned off (i.e., dimmed by a large factor): 1) the fraction of turned-off quasars in a statistical sample…
Accretion processes in quasars and active galactic nuclei are still poorly understood, especially as far as the connection between observed spectral properties and physical parameters is concerned. Quasars show an additional degree of…
Recently some pessimism has been expressed about our lack of progress in understanding quasars over the 50+ year since their discovery. It is worthwhile to look back at some of the progress that has been made - but still lies under the…
Last year (2013) was more or less the 50th anniversary of the discovery of quasars. It is an interesting time to review what we know (and don't know) about them both empirically and theoretically. These compact sources involving line…
The main purpose of this work is to improve the existing knowledge about the most powerful engines in the Universe - quasars. Although a lot is already known, we still have only a vague idea how these engines work exactly, why they behave…
In a previous paper, Collin & Hur\'e (2001), using a sample of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) where the mass has been determined by reverberation studies (Kaspi et al. 2000), have shown that if the optical luminosity is emitted by a steady…
According to a currently popular paradigm, nuclear activity in quasars is sustained via accretion of material onto super-massive black holes located at the quasar nuclei. A useful tracer of the gravitational field in the vicinity of such…
We analyze the optical properties of Radio-Loud quasars along the Main Sequence (MS) of quasars. A sample of 355 quasars selected on the basis of radio detection was obtained by cross-matching the FIRST survey at 20cm and the SDSS DR12…