The Baldwin effect and the Mg II - 3000 Å luminosity relation in blazars

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Authors: V. Patiño-Álvarez, Jonhatan U. Guerrero-González, V. Chavushyan, Douglas E. Monjardin-Ward, T. G. Arshakian, I. Cruz-González
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Abstract

We present a re-evaluation of the relationship between the Mg II λ2798 Å emission line and the 3000 Å continuum luminosity, including an analysis of the Baldwin Effect, using a sample of 40,685 radio-quiet quasars and 441 Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs).To address dispersion from AGN variability, we applied a binning technique after excluding over 3,000 radioloud sources, resulting in a refined empirical correlation.Our findings reveal statistically significant differences in the slope of this relationship between RQ quasars and FSRQs, implying either intrinsic differences in their accretion disk spectra or a significant contribution from jet-induced continuum to the BLR ionization in FSRQs.Furthermore, our investigation of the Non-Thermal Dominance (NTD) parameter shows that a substantial fraction of both populations (43.8% of RQ quasars and 55.5% of blazars) exhibit N T D < 1.We interpret this in blazars as evidence that the accretion disk alone cannot power the BLR, while in RQ quasars, it may indicate BLR anomalies, continuum-line time lags, or UV continuum suppression by a strong corona.Finally, we demonstrate that the Baldwin Effect is a direct consequence of the fundamental line-continuum luminosity relationship.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Galaxies: Formation Evolution Phenomena Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena

Publication details

Journal / source
Contributions of the Astronomical Observatory Skalnaté Pleso
Volume
56
Issue
1
Publication date
1 January 2026