TY - JOUR
T1 - Luminosity function from dedicated SDSS-III and MMT data of quasars in 0.7 < z < 4.0 selected with a new approach
AU - Palanque-Delabrouille, N.
AU - Magneville, Ch
AU - Yèche, Ch
AU - Eftekharzadeh, S.
AU - Myers, A. D.
AU - Petitjean, P.
AU - Pâris, I.
AU - Aubourg, E.
AU - McGreer, I.
AU - Fan, X.
AU - Dey, A.
AU - Schlegel, D.
AU - Bailey, S.
AU - Bizayev, D.
AU - Bolton, A.
AU - Dawson, K.
AU - Ebelke, G.
AU - Ge, J.
AU - Malanushenko, E.
AU - Malanushenko, V.
AU - Oravetz, D.
AU - Pan, K.
AU - Ross, N. P.
AU - Schneider, D. P.
AU - Sheldon, E.
AU - Simmons, A.
AU - Tinker, J.
AU - White, M.
AU - Willmer, Ch
N1 - Funding Information:
The observations reported here were obtained in part at the MMT Observatory, a facility operated jointly by the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Arizona. The other observations were obtained as part of the SDSS-III/BOSS project. Funding for SDSS-III has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Participating Institutions, the National Science Foundation, and the US Department of Energy Office of Science. The SDSS-III web site is http://www.sdss3.org/ . SDSS-III is managed by the Astrophysical Research Consortium for the Participating Institutions of the SDSS-III Collaboration including the University of Arizona, the Brazilian Participation Group, Brookhaven National Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Florida, the French Participation Group, the German Participation Group, Harvard University, the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, the Michigan State/Notre Dame/JINA Participation Group, Johns Hopkins University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, New Mexico State University, New York University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Portsmouth, Princeton University, the Spanish Participation Group, University of Tokyo, University of Utah, Vanderbilt University, University of Virginia, University of Washington, and Yale University. The French Participation Group to SDSS-III is supported by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche under grant ANR-08-BLAN-0222. N.P.-D. and Ch.Y. acknowledge support from grant ANR-11-JS04-011-01. A.D.M. is a research fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany. X.F. and I.D.M. acknowledge supports from a David and Lucile Packard Fellowship, and NSF Grants AST 08-06861 and AST 11-07682.
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - We present a measurement of the quasar luminosity function in the range 0.68 < z < 4 down to extinction corrected magnitude gdered = 22.5, using a simple and well understood target selection technique based on the time-variability of quasars. The completeness of our sample was derived directly from a control sample of quasars, without requiring complex simulations of quasar light-curves or colors. A total of 1877 quasar spectra were obtained from dedicated programs on the Sloan telescope (as part of the SDSS-III/BOSS survey) and on the Multiple Mirror Telescope. They allowed us to derive the quasar luminosity function. It agrees well with results previously published in the redshift range 0.68 < z < 2.6. Our deeper data allow us to extend the measurement to z = 4. We measured quasar densities to gdered < 22.5, obtaining 30 QSO per deg2 at z < 1, 99 QSO per deg 2 for 1 < z < 2.15, and 47 QSO per deg2 at z > 2.15. Using pure luminosity evolution models, we fitted our LF measurements and predicted quasar number counts as a function of redshift and observed magnitude. These predictions are useful inputs for future cosmology surveys such as those relying on the observation of quasars to measure baryon acoustic oscillations.
AB - We present a measurement of the quasar luminosity function in the range 0.68 < z < 4 down to extinction corrected magnitude gdered = 22.5, using a simple and well understood target selection technique based on the time-variability of quasars. The completeness of our sample was derived directly from a control sample of quasars, without requiring complex simulations of quasar light-curves or colors. A total of 1877 quasar spectra were obtained from dedicated programs on the Sloan telescope (as part of the SDSS-III/BOSS survey) and on the Multiple Mirror Telescope. They allowed us to derive the quasar luminosity function. It agrees well with results previously published in the redshift range 0.68 < z < 2.6. Our deeper data allow us to extend the measurement to z = 4. We measured quasar densities to gdered < 22.5, obtaining 30 QSO per deg2 at z < 1, 99 QSO per deg 2 for 1 < z < 2.15, and 47 QSO per deg2 at z > 2.15. Using pure luminosity evolution models, we fitted our LF measurements and predicted quasar number counts as a function of redshift and observed magnitude. These predictions are useful inputs for future cosmology surveys such as those relying on the observation of quasars to measure baryon acoustic oscillations.
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U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/201220379
DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/201220379
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84873889730
SN - 0004-6361
VL - 551
JO - Astronomy and Astrophysics
JF - Astronomy and Astrophysics
M1 - A29
ER -