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Broad absorption lines (BALs) in quasar spectra are prominent signatures of high-velocity outflows, which might be present in all quasars and could be a major contributor to feedback to galaxy evolution. Studying the variability in these BALs allows us to further our understanding of the structure, evolution and basic physical properties of the outflows. This is the third paper in a series on a monitoring programme of 24 luminous BAL quasars at redshifts 1.2 < z < 2.9. We focus here on the time-scales of variability in C iv λ1549 BALs in our full multi-epoch sample, which covers time-scales from 0.02 to 8.7 yr in the quasar rest frame. Our sample contains up to 13 epochs of data per quasar, with an average of seven epochs per quasar. We find that both the incidence and the amplitude of variability are greater across longer time-scales. Part of our monitoring programme specifically targeted half of these BAL quasars at rest-frame time-scales ≤2 months. This revealed variability down to the shortest time-scales we probe (8–10 d). Observed variations in only portions of BAL troughs or in lines that are optically thick suggest that at least some of these changes are caused by clouds (or some type of outflow substructures) moving across our lines of sight. In this crossing cloud scenario, the variability times constrain both the crossing speeds and the absorber locations. Specific results also depend on the emission and absorption geometries. We consider a range of geometries and use Keplerian rotational speeds to derive a general relationship between the variability times, crossing speeds and outflow locations. Typical variability times of the order of ∼1 yr indicate crossing speeds of a few thousand km s−1 and radial distances ∼1 pc from the central black hole. However, the most rapid BAL changes occurring in 8–10 d require crossing speeds of 17 000–84 000 km s−1 and radial distances of only 0.001–0.02 pc. These speeds are similar to or greater than the observed radial outflow speeds, and the inferred locations are within the nominal radius of the broad emission-line region. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ABSTRACT Broad absorption lines (BALs) in quasar spectra indicate high-velocity outflows that may be present in all quasars and could be an important contributor to feedback to their host galaxies. Variability studies of BALs help illuminate the structure, evolution and basic physical properties of the outflows. Here we present further results from an ongoing BAL monitoring campaign of a sample of 24 luminous quasars at redshifts 1.2 < z < 2.9. We directly compare the variabilities in the C ivλ1549 and Si ivλ1400 absorption to try to ascertain the cause(s) of the variability. We find that Si iv BALs are more likely to vary than C iv BALs. When looking at flow speeds >−20 000 km s−1, 47 per cent of quasars exhibited Si iv variability while 31 per cent exhibited C iv variability. Furthermore, ∼50 per cent of the variable Si iv regions did not have corresponding C iv variability at the same velocities, while nearly all occurrences of C iv variability had corresponding changes in Si iv. We do not find any correlation between the absolute change in strength in C iv and in Si iv, but the fractional change in strength tends to be greater in Si iv than in C iv. When both C iv and Si iv varied, those changes always occurred in the same sense (either getting weaker or stronger). We also include our full data set so far in this paper, which includes up to 10 epochs of data per quasar. The multi-epoch data show that the BAL changes were not generally monotonic across the full ∼5-8 yr time span of our observations, suggesting that the characteristic time-scale for significant line variations, and (perhaps) for structural changes in the outflows, is less than a few years. Coordinated variabilities between absorption regions at different velocities in individual quasars seem to favour changing ionization of the outflowing gas as the cause of the observed BAL variability. However, variability in limited portions of broad troughs fits naturally in a scenario where movements of individual clouds, or substructures in the flow, across our lines of sight cause the absorption to vary. The actual situation may be a complex mixture of changing ionization and cloud movements. Further discussion of the implications of variability, e.g. in terms of the size and location of the outflowing gas, will be presented in a forthcoming paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We report on the discovery of a high-velocity narrow absorption line outflow in the redshift 2.3 quasar J 212329.46 − 005052.9. Five distinct outflow systems are detected with velocity shifts from −9710 to −14 050 km s −1 and C iv λλ1548, 1551 linewidths of FWHM ≈ 62-164 km s −1. This outflow is remarkable for having high speeds and a degree of ionization similar to broad absorption line (BAL) flows, but linewidths roughly 100 times narrower than BALs and no apparent X-ray absorption. This is also, to our knowledge, the highest-velocity narrow absorption line system confirmed to be in a quasar outflow by all three indicators of line variability, smooth superthermal line profiles and doublet ratios that require partial covering of the quasar continuum source. All five systems have stronger absorption in O vi λλ1032, 1038 than C iv with no lower ionization metal lines detected. Their line variabilities also appear coordinated, with each system showing larger changes in C iv than O vi and line strength variations accompanied by nearly commensurate changes in the absorber covering fractions. The metallicity is approximately twice solar. These data require five distinct outflow structures with similar kinematics, physical conditions and characteristic sizes of order 0.01-0.02 pc (based on partial covering). The coordinated line variations, occurring on time-scales ≤0.63 yr (quasar frame), are best explained by global changes in the outflow ionization caused by changes in the quasar's ionizing flux. An upper limit on the acceleration, ≲3 km s −1 yr −1, is consistent with blobs of gas that are gravitationally unbound and coasting freely ≳5 pc from the central black hole. Additional constraints from the variability time indicate that the full range of plausible distances is 5 ≲ R ≲ 1100 pc. However, if these small absorbing structures were created in the inner flow, they should be near the ∼5 pc minimum radius because they can travel just a few pc before dissipating (without external confinement). An apparent double line-lock in C iv suggests that the flow was radiatively accelerated and its present trajectory is within ∼16 ° of the radial (line-of-sight) direction. The absence of strong X-ray absorption shows that radiative shielding in the far-UV and X-rays is not needed to maintain moderate BAL-like ionizations and therefore, apparently, it is not needed to facilitate the radiative acceleration to high speeds. We argue that the ionization is moderated, instead, by high gas densities in small outflow substructures. Finally, we estimate that the kinetic energy yield from this outflow is at least 2 orders of magnitude too low to be important for feedback to the host galaxy's evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on a survey for narrow (full widths at half-minimum <600 km s−1) C iv absorption lines in a sample of bright quasars at redshifts in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Our main goal is to understand the relationship of narrow C iv absorbers to quasar outflows and, more generally, to quasar environments. We determine velocity zero-points using the broad Mg ii emission line, and then measure the absorbers' quasar-frame velocity distribution. We examine the distribution of lines arising in quasar outflows by subtracting model fits to the contributions from cosmologically intervening absorbers and absorption due to the quasar host galaxy or cluster environment. We find that a substantial number ( per cent) of absorbers with Å in the velocity range km s−1 are intrinsic to the active galactic nucleus outflow. This ‘outflow fraction’ peaks near km s−1 with a value of . At velocities below km s−1, the incidence of outflowing systems drops, possibly due to geometric effects or to the over-ionization of gas that is nearer the accretion disc. Furthermore, we find that outflow absorbers are on average broader and stronger than cosmologically intervening systems. Finally, we find that ∼14 per cent of the quasars in our sample exhibit narrow, outflowing C iv absorption with Å, slightly larger than that for broad absorption line systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the N  v absorption signal along the line of sight of background quasars, in order to test the robustness of the use of this ion as the criterion to select intrinsic (i.e. physically related to the quasar host galaxy) narrow absorption lines (NALs). We build composite spectra from a sample of ∼ 1000 C  iv absorbers, covering the redshift range 2.55 < z < 4.73, identified in 100 individual sight lines from the XQ-100 Legacy Survey. We detect a statistically significant N  v absorption signal only within 5000 km s−1 of the systemic redshift, |$z_{\rm em}$|⁠. This absorption trough is ∼ 15 σ when only C  iv systems with N (C  iv) > 1014 cm−2 are included in the composite spectrum. This result confirms that N  v offers an excellent statistical tool to identify intrinsic systems. We exploit stacks of 11 different ions to show that the gas in proximity to a quasar exhibits a considerably different ionization state with respect to gas in the transverse direction and intervening gas at large velocity separations from the continuum source. Indeed, we find a dearth of cool gas, as traced by low-ionization species and in particular by Mg  ii, in the proximity of the quasar. We compare our findings with the predictions given by a range of cloudy ionization models and find that they can be naturally explained by ionization effects of the quasar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quasar outflows have long been recognized as potential contributors to the co-evolution between supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and their host galaxies. The role of outflows in active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback processes can be better understood by placing observational constraints on wind locations and kinetic energies. We utilize broad absorption line (BAL) variability to investigate the properties of a sample of 71BAL quasarswith P V broad absorption. The presence of P V BALs indicates that other BALs like C IV are saturated, such that variability in those lines favours clouds crossing the line of sight.We use these constraints with measurements of BALvariability to estimate outflowlocations and energetics. Our data set consists of multiple-epoch spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and MDM Observatory. We detect significant (4σ) BAL variations from 10 quasars in our sample over rest-frame timescales between ≤0.2-3.8 yr. Our derived distances for the 10 variable outflows are nominally ≲1-10 pc from the SMBH using the transverse-motion scenario, and ≲100-1000 pc from the central source using ionization-change considerations. These distances, in combination with the estimated high outflow column densities (i.e. NH ≳ 1022 cm-2), yield outflow kinetic luminosities between ~0.001 and 1 times the bolometric luminosity of the quasar, indicating that many absorber energies within our sample are viable for AGN feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The current paradigm for the AGN phenomenon is a central engine that consists of an inflow of material accreting in the form of a disk onto a supermassive black hole. Observations in the UV and optical find high velocity ionized material outflowing from the black hole. We present results from Suzaku and XMM-Newton observations of a sample of intrinsic NAL quasars with high velocity outflows. Our derived values of the intrinsic column densities of the X-ray absorbers are consistent with an outflow scenario in which NAL quasars are viewed at smaller inclination angles than BAL quasars. We find that the distributions of and of the NAL quasars of our sample differ significantly from those of BAL quasars and SDSS radio-quiet quasars. The NAL quasars are not significantly absorbed in the X-ray band and the positive values of suggest absorption in the UV band. The positive values of of the intrinsic NAL quasars can be explained in a geometric scenario where our lines of sight towards the compact X-ray hot coronae of NAL quasars do not traverse the absorbing wind whereas lines of sight towards their UV emitting accretion disks do intercept the outflowing absorbers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]