Toward an Understanding of the Baldwin Effect

1998/12/02 by Kirk Korista, Korista, Kirk
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #astro-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/9812041

17 pages, LATeX (paspconf.sty), 4 encapsulated postscript figures. To appear in proceedings of "Quasars and Cosmology" (1998 May 18-22, La Serena, Chile), ASP Conference Series, ed. G. Ferland

arxiv created 1998/12/02 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01

Abstract

After a short review of the quasar problem and what we can hope to learn from their emission line spectra, I discuss the current body of knowledge concerning quasar emission lines and their relationships to the local and ionizing continua. I propose a hypothesis that the Baldwin effect is due to a characteristic relationship between the continuum spectral energy distribution, the gas metallicity (Z), and the quasar luminosity. I suggest that such a relationship might arise naturally from a scenario involving massive galaxy formation and evolution driving the birth and evolution of the quasar central engines in terms of four fundamental parameters: M_bh, Mdot Mdot/M_bh, and Z.

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