Abstract:Since the discovery of radio emissions from Quasi-stellar Objects (QSOs), also known as quasars, they have been traditionally subdivided as radio-loud and radio-quiet sources. Whether such division is a misleading effect from a highly heterogeneous single population of objects, or real has yet to be answered. Such dichotomy has been evidenced by observations of the flux ratio between the optical and radio emissions (usually B-band and 5 GHz). Evidence of two populations in quasars and samples of a wide diversi… Show more
Giant radio quasars (GRQs) are radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) that propel megaparsec-scale jets. In order to understand GRQs and their properties, we have compiled all known GRQs (‘the GRQ catalogue’) and a subset of small (size < 700 kpc) radio quasars (SRQs) from the literature. In the process, we have found ten new Fanaroff-Riley type-II GRQs in the redshift range of 0.66 < z < 1.72, which we include in the GRQ catalogue. Using the above samples, we have carried out a systematic comparative study of GRQs and SRQs using optical and radio data. Our results show that the GRQs and SRQs statistically have similar spectral index and black hole mass distributions. However, SRQs have a higher radio core power, core dominance factor, total radio power, jet kinetic power, and Eddington ratio compared to GRQs. On the other hand, when compared to giant radio galaxies (GRGs), GRQs have a higher black hole mass and Eddington ratio. The high core dominance factor of SRQs is an indicator of them lying closer to the line of sight than GRQs. We also find a correlation between the accretion disc luminosity and the radio core and jet power of GRQs, which provides evidence for disc-jet coupling. Lastly, we find the distributions of Eddington ratios of GRGs and GRQs to be bi-modal, similar to that found in small radio galaxies (SRGs) and SRQs, which indicates that size is not strongly dependent on the accretion state. Using all of this, we provide a basic model for the growth of SRQs to GRQs.
Giant radio quasars (GRQs) are radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) that propel megaparsec-scale jets. In order to understand GRQs and their properties, we have compiled all known GRQs (‘the GRQ catalogue’) and a subset of small (size < 700 kpc) radio quasars (SRQs) from the literature. In the process, we have found ten new Fanaroff-Riley type-II GRQs in the redshift range of 0.66 < z < 1.72, which we include in the GRQ catalogue. Using the above samples, we have carried out a systematic comparative study of GRQs and SRQs using optical and radio data. Our results show that the GRQs and SRQs statistically have similar spectral index and black hole mass distributions. However, SRQs have a higher radio core power, core dominance factor, total radio power, jet kinetic power, and Eddington ratio compared to GRQs. On the other hand, when compared to giant radio galaxies (GRGs), GRQs have a higher black hole mass and Eddington ratio. The high core dominance factor of SRQs is an indicator of them lying closer to the line of sight than GRQs. We also find a correlation between the accretion disc luminosity and the radio core and jet power of GRQs, which provides evidence for disc-jet coupling. Lastly, we find the distributions of Eddington ratios of GRGs and GRQs to be bi-modal, similar to that found in small radio galaxies (SRGs) and SRQs, which indicates that size is not strongly dependent on the accretion state. Using all of this, we provide a basic model for the growth of SRQs to GRQs.
High-redshift quasars (z > 5) that also shine brightly at radio wavelengths are unique signposts of supermassive black hole activity in the early universe. However, bright radio sources at z ≥ 5 are extremely rare and therefore we have started a campaign to search for new high-z quasars by combining an optical dropout selection driven by the g, r, and z bands from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Legacy Imaging Surveys with low-frequency radio observations from the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS). Currently, LoTSS covers a large fraction of the northern sky (∼5720 deg 2 ) to such a depth (median noise level ∼ 83 µJy beam −1 ) that about 30% of the general quasar population is detected − which is a factor of 5-10 more than previous large sky radio surveys such as NVSS and FIRST, respectively. In this paper, we present the discovery of 20 new quasars (and the independent confirmation of four) between 4.9 ≤ z ≤ 6.6. Out of the 24 quasars, 21 satisfy the traditional radio-loudness criterion of R = f 5GHz / f 4400Å > 10, with the full sample spanning R ∼6-1000, thereby more than doubling the sample of known radio-loud quasars at z ≥ 5. Our radio detection requirement strongly decreases the contamination of stellar sources and allows one to select these quasars in a broad redshift range. Despite selecting our quasar candidates using fewer and less conservative colour restrictions, both the optical and near-infrared colours, Lyα emission line properties, and dust reddening, E(B − V), measurements of our quasar sample do not deviate from the known radio-quiet quasar population, suggesting similar optical quasar properties of the radio-loud and radio-quiet quasar population at high-z. Our campaign demonstrates the potential for discovering new high-z quasar populations through next generation radio continuum surveys.
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