Search

Broad absorption line (BAL) quasars are characterized by gas clouds that absorb flux at the wavelength of common quasar spectral features, although blueshifted by velocities that can exceed 0.1c. BAL features are interesting as signatures of significant feedback, yet they can also compromise cosmological studies with quasars by distorting the shape of the most prominent quasar emission lines, impacting redshift accuracy and measurements of the matter density distribution traced by the Lyman α forest. We present a catalogue of BAL quasars discovered in the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey Early Data Release, which were observed as part of DESI Survey Validation, as well as the first two months of the main survey. We describe our method to automatically identify BAL quasars in DESI data, the quantities we measure for each BAL, and investigate the completeness and purity of this method with mock DESI observations. We mask the wavelengths of the BAL features and re-evaluate each BAL quasar redshift, finding new redshifts which are 243 km s−1 smaller on average for the BAL quasar sample. These new, more accurate redshifts are important to obtain the best measurements of quasar clustering, especially at small scales. Finally, we present some spectra of rarer classes of BALs that illustrate the potential of DESI data to identify such populations for further study.

Galaxy scaling relations provide insights into the processes that drive galaxy evolution. The extension of these scaling relations into the dwarf galaxy regime is of particular interest. This is because dwarf galaxies represent a crucial stage in galaxy evolution, and understanding them could also shed light on their role in reionizing the early Universe. There is currently no consensus on the processes that dominate the evolution of dwarfs. In this work, we constrain the atomic gas sequence (stellar mass versus atomic gas fraction) and mass–metallicity relation (stellar mass versus gas-phase metallicity) from dwarf (⁠|$10^{6.5} \, {\rm M}_{\odot }$|⁠) to massive (⁠|$10^{11.5} \, {\rm M}_{\odot }$|⁠) galaxies in the local Universe. The combined optical and 21-cm spectroscopic observations of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument and Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA surveys allow us to constrain both scaling relations simultaneously. We find a slope change of the atomic gas sequence at a stellar mass of |${\sim} 10^{9} \, \textrm{M}_{\odot }$|⁠. We also find that the shape and scatter of the atomic gas sequence and mass–metallicity relation are strongly linked for both dwarfs and more massive galaxies. Consequently, the low-mass slope change of the atomic gas sequence is imprinted onto the mass–metallicity relation of dwarf galaxies. The mass scale of the measured slope change is consistent with a predicted escape velocity threshold below which low-mass galaxies experience significant supernova-driven gas loss, as well as with a reduction in cold gas accretion onto more massive galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-ionization iron coronal lines (CLs) are a rare phenomenon observed in galaxy and quasi-stellar object spectra that are thought to be created by high-energy emission from active galactic nuclei and certain types of transients. In cases known as extreme coronal line emitting galaxies (ECLEs), these CLs are strong and fade away on a time-scale of years. The most likely progenitors of these variable CLs are tidal disruption events (TDEs), which produce sufficient high-energy emission to create and sustain the CLs over these time-scales. To test the possible connection between ECLEs and TDEs, we present the most complete variable ECLE rate calculation to date and compare the results to TDE rates from the literature. To achieve this, we search for ECLEs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We detect sufficiently strong CLs in 16 galaxies, more than doubling the number previously found in SDSS. Using follow-up spectra from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument and Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mid-infrared observations, and Liverpool Telescope optical photometry, we find that none of the nine new ECLEs evolve in a manner consistent with that of the five previously discovered variable ECLEs. Using this sample of five variable ECLEs, we calculate the galaxy-normalized rate of variable ECLEs in SDSS to be |$R_\mathrm{G}=3.6~^{+2.6}_{-1.8}~(\mathrm{statistical})~^{+5.1}_{-0.0}~(\mathrm{systematic})\times 10^{-6}~\mathrm{galaxy}^{-1}~\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$|⁠. The mass-normalized rate is |$R_\mathrm{M}=3.1~^{+2.3}_{-1.5}~(\mathrm{statistical})~^{+4.4}_{-0.0}~(\mathrm{systematic})\times 10^{-17}~\mathrm{M_\odot ^{-1}}~\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$| and the volumetric rate is |$R_\mathrm{V}=7~^{+20}_{-5}~(\mathrm{statistical})~^{+10}_{-0.0}~(\mathrm{systematic})\times 10^{-9}~\mathrm{Mpc}^{-3}~\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$|⁠. Our rates are one to two orders of magnitude lower than TDE rates from the literature, which suggests that only 10–40 per cent of all TDEs produce variable ECLEs. Additional uncertainties in the rates arising from the structure of the interstellar medium have yet to be included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the influence of radio-mode feedback on the properties of the cool circumgalactic medium (CGM). To this end, we assemble a statistical sample of approximately 30,000 radio galaxies with background quasars by combining optical spectroscopic measurements of luminous red galaxies and quasars from the year 1 data set of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument and radio sources from the LOw-Frequency ARray Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) DR2 catalog and the Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS) quick-look catalog. Galaxies with similar optical properties but with no radio counterparts in LoTSS and VLASS are selected as the control group. We measure the cool CGM properties of radio galaxies and their control samples traced by Mg ii absorption lines, including covering fraction, rest equivalent width, and gas kinematics. Our results show no significant difference in the properties of gas around radio galaxies and their control sample, indicating that the operating radio-mode feedback of massive galaxies does not produce detectable effects on the properties of the cool CGM. Finally, we show that the CGM of radio galaxies contains a nonnegligible amount of cool gas with approximately 1010 M ⊙. This abundance can place a stringent constraint on the radio-mode feedback models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an overwhelming evidence that white dwarfs host planetary systems; revealed by the presence, disruption, and accretion of planetary bodies. A lower limit on the frequency of white dwarfs that host planetary material has been estimated to be ≃ 25–50 per cent; inferred from the ongoing or recent accretion of metals on to both hydrogen-atmosphere and warm helium-atmosphere white dwarfs. Now with the unbiased sample of white dwarfs observed by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey in their Early Data Release (EDR), we have determined the frequency of metal enrichment around cool-helium atmosphere white dwarfs as 21 ± 3 per cent using a sample of 234 systems. This value is in good agreement with values determined from previous studies. With the current samples we cannot distinguish whether the frequency of planetary accretion varies with system age or host-star mass, but the DESI data release 1 will contain roughly an order of magnitude more white dwarfs than DESI EDR and will allow these parameters to be investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first eight months of data from our secondary target programme within the ongoing Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey. Our programme uses a mid-infrared and optical colour selection to preferentially target dust-reddened quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) that would have otherwise been missed by the nominal DESI QSO selection. So far, we have obtained optical spectra for 3038 candidates, of which ∼70 per cent of the high-quality objects (those with robust redshifts) are visually confirmed to be Type 1 QSOs, consistent with the expected fraction from the main DESI QSO survey. By fitting a dust-reddened blue QSO composite to the QSO spectra, we find they are well-fitted by a normal QSO with up to AV  ∼ 4 mag of line-of-sight dust extinction. Utilizing radio data from the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) DR2, we identify a striking positive relationship between the amount of line-of-sight dust extinction towards a QSO and the radio detection fraction, that is not driven by radio-loud systems, redshift and/or luminosity effects. This demonstrates an intrinsic connection between dust reddening and the production of radio emission in QSOs, whereby the radio emission is most likely due to low-powered jets or winds/outflows causing shocks in a dusty environment. On the basis of this evidence, we suggest that red QSOs may represent a transitional 'blow-out' phase in the evolution of QSOs, where winds and outflows evacuate the dust and gas to reveal an unobscured blue QSO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The full-shape correlations of the Lyman alpha (Ly α) forest contain a wealth of cosmological information through the Alcock–Paczyński effect. However, these measurements are challenging to model without robustly testing and verifying the theoretical framework used for analysing them. Here, we leverage the accuracy and volume of the N -body simulation suite AbacusSummit to generate high-resolution Ly α skewers and quasi-stellar object (QSO) catalogues. One of the main goals of our mocks is to aid in the full-shape Ly α analysis planned by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) team. We provide optical depth skewers for six of the fiducial cosmology base-resolution simulations (⁠|$L_{\rm box} = 2\, h^{-1}\, {\rm Gpc}$|⁠ , N  = 69123) at z  = 2.5. We adopt a simple recipe based on the Fluctuating Gunn–Peterson Approximation (FGPA) for constructing these skewers from the matter density in an N -body simulation and calibrate it against the 1D and 3D Ly α power spectra extracted from the hydrodynamical simulation IllustrisTNG (TNG; |$L_{\rm box} = 205\, h^{-1}\, {\rm Mpc}$|⁠ , N  = 25003). As an important application, we study the non-linear broadening of the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) peak and show the cross-correlation between DESI-like QSOs and our Ly α forest skewers. We find differences on small scales between the Kaiser approximation prediction and our mock measurements of the Ly α × QSO cross-correlation, which would be important to account for in upcoming analyses. The AbacusSummit Ly α forest mocks open up the possibility for improved modelling of cross-correlations between Ly α and cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing and Ly α and QSOs, and for forecasts of the 3-point Ly α correlation function. Our catalogues and skewers are publicly available on Globus via the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) (full link under the section 'Data Availability'). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The abundance, temperature, and clustering of metals in the intergalactic medium are important parameters for understanding their cosmic evolution and quantifying their impact on cosmological analysis with the Ly α forest. The properties of these systems are typically measured from individual quasar spectra redward of the quasar's Ly α emission line, yet that approach may provide biased results due to selection effects. We present an alternative approach to measure these properties in an unbiased manner with the two-point statistics commonly employed to quantify large-scale structure. Our model treats the observed flux of a large sample of quasar spectra as a continuous field and describes the one-dimensional, two-point statistics of this field with three parameters per ion: the abundance (column density distribution), temperature (Doppler parameter), and clustering (cloud–cloud correlation function). We demonstrate this approach on multiple ions (e.g. |${\rm C\, \small {\rm IV}}$| , |${\rm Si\, \small {\rm IV}}$| , and |${\rm Mg\, \small {\rm II}}$|) with early data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and high-resolution spectra from the literature. Our initial results show some evidence that the |${\rm C\, \small {\rm IV}}$| abundance is higher than previous measurements and evidence for abundance evolution over time. The first full year of DESI observations will have over an order of magnitude more quasar spectra than this study. In a future paper, we will use those data to measure the growth of clustering and its impact on the Ly α forest, as well as test other DESI analysis infrastructure such as the pipeline noise estimates and the resolution matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]