One commonly-invoked launching mechanism for AGN outflows is radiation line driving. This mechanism depends closely on the SED of the ionizing continuum, and so is inherently linked to the structure of the accretion flow. Theories of radiation line-driven winds therefore provide testable predictions as a function of black hole (BH) mass and accretion rate. In this work we confront these predictions using the ultraviolet emission line properties of 190,000 quasars from SDSS DR17. We quantify how the shape of CIV 1549Å and the equivalent width (EW) of HeII 1640Å depend on the BH mass and Eddington ratio inferred from MgII 2800Å. The blueshift of the CIV emission line is commonly interpreted as a tracer of quasar outflows, while the HeII EW traces the strength of the 10-100 eV continuum which photo-ionizes the ultraviolet emission line regions. Above L/LEdd > 0.2, there is a strong mass dependence in both CIV blueshift and HeII EW. Large CIV blueshifts are observed only in regions with both high BH mass and high accretion rate, consistent with predictions for radiation line driven winds. The observed trends in HeII and 2 keV X-ray strength are broadly consistent with theoretical models of AGN SEDs, where the ionizing SED depends on the accretion disc temperature and the strength of the soft excess. At L/LEdd < 0.2, we find a dramatic switch in behaviour: the ultraviolet emission properties show much weaker trends, and no longer agree with SED models, hinting at changes in the structure of the broad line region. Overall the observed emission line properties are generally consistent with the radiation line driving scenario, where quasar winds are governed by the SED, which itself results from the accretion flow and hence depends on both the SMBH mass and accretion rate.

We aim to uncover the structure of the continuum and broad emission line (BEL) emitting regions in the gravitationally lensed quasar SDSS J1004+4112 through unique microlensing signatures. Analyzing 20 spectroscopic observations from 2003 to 2018, we study the striking deformations of various BEL profiles and determine the sizes of their respective emitting regions. We use the emission line cores as a baseline for no microlensing and then apply Bayesian methods to derive the sizes of the Lyα, Si IV, C IV, C III], and Mg II emitting regions, as well as of the underlying continuum-emitting sources. We find that the sizes of the emitting regions for the BELs are a few light-days across, notably smaller than in typical lensed quasars. The asymmetric distortions observed in the BELs suggest that the broad-line region lacks spherical symmetry and is likely confined to a plane. The inferred continuum emitting region sizes are larger than predictions based on standard thin-disk theory by a factor of ∼ 4. We find that the size-wavelength relation is in agreement with that of a geometrically thin and optically thick accretion disk.

To study the dust obscured phase of the galaxy evolution during the peak of the Star Formation Rate (SFR) and the Black Hole Accretion Rate (BHAR) density functions (z = 1–4), rest frame mid-to-far infrared (IR) spectroscopy is needed. At these frequencies, dust extinction is at its minimum and a variety of atomic and molecular transitions, tracing most astrophysical domains, occur. The future IR space telescope mission, SPICA, fully redesigned with its 2.5m mirror cooled down to T < 8K, will be able to perform such observations. With SPICA, we will: 1) obtain a direct spectroscopic measurement of the SFR and of the BHAR histories, 2) measure the evolution of metals and dust to establish the matter cycle in galaxies, 3) uncover the feedback and feeding mechanisms in large samples of distant galaxies, either AGN- or starburst-dominated, reaching lookback times of nearly 12 Gyr. SPICA large-area deep surveys will provide low-resolution, mid-IR spectra and continuum fluxes for unbiased samples of tens of thousands of galaxies, and even the potential to uncover the youngest, most luminous galaxies in the first few hundred million years. In this paper a brief review of the scientific preparatory work that has been done in extragalactic astronomy by the SPICA Consortium will be given.

The J-PAS survey will soon start observing thousands of square degrees of the Northern Sky with its unique set of 56 narrow band filters covering the entire optical wavelength range, providing, effectively, a low resolution spectra for every object detected. Active galaxies and quasars, thanks to their strong emission lines, can be easily identified and characterized with J-PAS data. A variety of studies can be performed, from IFU-like analysis of local AGN, to clustering of high-z quasars. We also expect to be able to extract intrinsic physical quasar properties from the J-PAS pseudo-spectra, including continuum slope and emission line luminosities. Here we show the first attempts of using the QSFit software package to derive the properties for 22 quasars at 0.8 < z < 2 observed by the miniJPAS survey, the first deg2 of J-PAS data obtained with an interim camera. Results are compared with the ones obtained by applying the same software to SDSS quasar spectra.

The main sequence offers a method for the systematization of quasar spectral properties. Extreme FeII emitters (or extreme Population A, xA) are believed to be sources accreting matter at very high rates. They are easily identifiable along the quasar main sequence, in large spectroscopic surveys over a broad redshift range. The very high accretion rate makes it possible that massive black holes hosted in xA quasars radiate at a stable, extreme luminosity-to-mass ratio. After reviewing the basic interpretation of the main sequence, we report on the possibility of identifying virial broadening estimators from low-ionization line widths, and provide evidence of the conceptual validity of redshift-independent luminosities based on virial broadening for a known luminosity-to-mass ratio.

Over the past three decades more than 100 Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) were measured using the reverberation mapping technique. This technique uses the response of the line emission in the Broad Line Region (BLR) to continuum emission variation and yields a measure for the distance of the BLR from the central Black Hole (BH). This in turn is used to measure the BH’s mass. Almost all of these measurements are of low-luminosity AGNs while for quasars with luminosities higher than 1046 rg s−1 there are hardly any attempts of reverberation mapping. This contribution reports on recent results from a two-decades campaigns to measure the BH mass in high-luminosity quasars using the reverberation mapping technique. BLR distance from the BH, BH mass, and AGN UV luminosity relations over eight orders of magnitude in luminosity are presented, pushing the luminosity limit to the highest point so far.

Feedback from accreting supermassive black holes is often invoked in galaxy evolution models to inhibit star formation, truncate galaxy growth, and establish the observed black-hole/bulge mass correlation. We are studying outflows and feedback in a unique sample of extremely red quasars (ERQs) during the peak epoch of galaxy formation (at redshifts 2.3 < z < 3.4). We identified ERQs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) quasar catalog based on their extremely red i–W3 colors, but we find that ERQs typically have a suite of other extreme properties including 1) a high incidence of blueshifted broad absorption lines, 2) broad emission lines with unusually large rest equivalent widths (REWs), peculiar “wingless” profiles, and frequent large blueshifts (reaching ˜8740 km s-1), and 3) characteristically very broad and blueshifted [OIII] 4959,5007Å lines that trace ionized outflows at speeds up to ˜6700 km s-1. We propose that these ERQs represent a young quasar population with powerful outflows on the precipice of causing important disruptive feedback effects in their host galaxies.

Quasar black hole masses are most commonly estimated using broad emission lines in single epoch spectra based on scaling relationships determined from reverberation mapping of small samples of low-redshift objects. Several effects have been identified requiring modifications to these scaling relationships, resulting in significant reductions of the black hole mass determinations at high redshift. Correcting these systematic biases is critical to understanding the relationships among black hole and host galaxy properties. We are completing a program using the Gemini North telescope, called the Gemini North Infrared Spectrograph (GNIRS) Distant Quasar Survey (DQS), that has produced rest-frame optical spectra of about 200 high-redshift quasars (z = 1.5–3.5). The GNIRS-DQS will produce new and improved ultraviolet-based black hole mass and accretion rate prescriptions, as well as new redshift prescriptions for velocity zero points of high-z quasars, necessary to measure feedback.

Often associated with the regulation of star formation in galaxies, active galactic nuclei (AGN) play a fundamental role in the evolution of galaxies through their feedback effects. To investigate the impact of these effects, we analysed the optical emission-line properties of 8 type II AGNs with bolometric luminosities LBol > 1045 erg s−1, using integral field spectroscopy (IFS) observations with Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS). The gas kinematics was obtained by fitting Gaussian components to the profiles of the emission lines of the ionized gas. Using only the broadest component – that we associate with the gas in outflow – we calculated the mass outflow rate (Ṁout), finding values of up to 10 M⊙ yr−1. The outflow kinetic power (Ėout reaches maximum values between 1041 and 1043 erg s−1, which correspond to feedback efficiencies of ∼0.001−0.1 % of Lbol. These values are below that required to quench the star formation during the evolution of galaxies in simulations and analytical models. We also investigated the effect of uncertainties on the values of the physical quantities used in the calculations – such as the electron density – on the final values of Ṁout and Ėout.

The evolution of galaxies at Cosmic Noon (1 < z < 3) passed through a dust-obscured phase, during which most stars formed and black holes in galactic nuclei started to shine, which cannot be seen in the optical and UV, but it needs rest frame mid-to-far IR spectroscopy to be unveiled. At these frequencies, dust extinction is minimal and a variety of atomic and molecular transitions, tracing most astrophysical domains, occur. The Space Infrared telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA), currently under evaluation for the 5th Medium Size ESA Cosmic Vision Mission, fully redesigned with its 2.5-m mirror cooled down to T < 8K will perform such observations. SPICA will provide for the first time a 3-dimensional spectroscopic view of the hidden side of star formation and black hole accretion in all environments, from voids to cluster cores over 90% of cosmic time. Here we outline what SPICA will do in galaxy evolution studies.

We have identified that radio jets are commonly associated with “radiative mode” feedback in quasars. By performing a systematic multi-wavelength study of z < 0.2 quasars, we have found that 70–80% of our sample of ‘radio-quiet’ type 2 quasars, which host kpc-scale ionized gas outflows, exhibit radio jet structures. Here, we discuss our results on the pilot sample of 10 objects that combine high resolution (∼ 0.25 - 1 arcsec) radio imaging at 1-7 GHz with optical IFU observations. Our results demonstrate that it is extremely common for jets to be spatially and kinematically linked to kpc-scale ionized gas kinematics in such quasars. Therefore, radio jets may be an important driver of outflows during ‘radiative mode’ feedback, apparently blurring the lines between the traditional divisions of feedback modes.

We present a method that uses photoionization codes (CLOUDY) to estimate the supermassive black hole masses (MBH) for quasars at low and high redshift. This method is based on the determination of the physical conditions of the broad line region (BLR) using observational diagnostic diagrams from line ratios in the UV. We also considered that the density and metallicity of the BLR in quasars at high z could be different from those at the nearby Universe. The computed black hole masses obtained using this method are in agreement with those derived from the method of reverberation mapping.

Highly accreting quasars are possible cosmological probes, as their Eddington ratio is expected to saturate toward values of order unity. We present preliminary estimates of redshift- independent source luminosities and the Hubble diagram for quasars in the redshift range 0.1 ≲ z ≲ 2.6.

In 2014, a 179-orbit allocation of Hubble Space Telescope time anchored a massive reverberation-mapping program on the well-studied Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 5548. Supporting imaging and spectrophotometric observations were provided by Swift, Chandra, Spitzer, and a world-wide network of ground-based telescopes. Understanding the data remains a significant challenge, partly because the level of detail is far beyond what has been seen before and partly because the behavior of the AGN was not typical of its past behavior. Based on analysis to date, the following conclusions can be reached: (1) the AGN accretion disk has a temperature profile that is consistent with that predicted by the Shakura–Sunyaev model, but is about three times larger than expected; (2) at least part of the broad-line region appears to be a Keplerian disk seen at intermediate inclination, and (3) the broad-line emission response from the far side of the disk is weaker than expected.

The existence of black holes with masses of about one billion solar masses in quasars at redshifts z > 6 presents significant challenges to theories of the formation and growth of black holes and the black hole/galaxy co-evolution in the early Universe. Here we report a recent discovery of an ultra-luminous quasar at redshift z = 6.30, which has an observed optical and near-infrared luminosity a few times greater than those of previously known z > 6 quasars. With near-infrared spectroscopy, we obtain a black hole mass of about 12 billion solar masses, which is well consistent with the mass derived by assuming an Eddington-limited accretion. This ultra-luminous quasar with at z > 6 provides a unique laboratory to the study of the mass assembly and galaxy formation around the most massive black holes at cosmic dawn. It raises further challenges to the black hole/galaxy co-evolution in the epoch of cosmic reionization because the black hole needs to grow much faster than the host galaxy.

AGN reverberate when the broad emission lines respond to changes of the ionizing thermal continuum emission. Reverberation measurements have been commonly used to estimate the size of the broad-line region (BLR) and the mass of the central black hole. However, reverberation mapping studies have been mostly performed on radio-quiet sources where the contribution of the jet can be neglected. In radio-loud AGN, jets and outflows may affect substantially the relation observed between the ionizing continuum and the line emission. To investigate this relation, we have conducted a series of multi-wavelength studies of radio-loud AGN, combining optical spectral line monitoring with regular VLBI observations. Our results suggest that at least a fraction of the broad-line emitting material can be located in a sub-relativistic outflow ionized by non-thermal continuum emission generated in the jet at large distances (> 1 pc) from the central engine of AGN. This finding may have a strong impact on black hole mass estimates based on measured widths of the broad emission lines and on the gamma-ray emission mechanisms.

Using 192 composite spectra stacked from subsamples of individual SDSS quasar spectra binned in spectral index, αλ, and logarithm of monochromatic luminosity at 1450 Å, log l1450, and modelling separate spectral ranges with superposition of emission lines it was found that: there is a dependence of emission line equivalent width (EW) on αλ (correlation or anti-correlation) for some lines, mostly for those lines for which the Baldwin effect is detected, while for the lines for which the Baldwin effect is not observed any αλ-dependence was found.

Multiwavelength identification of AGN is crucial not only to obtain a more complete census, but also to learn about the physical state of the nuclear activity (obscuration, efficiency, etc.). A panchromatic strategy plays an especially important role when the host galaxies are star-forming. Selecting far-Infrared galaxies at 0.3<z<1, and using AGN tracers in the X-ray, optical spectra, mid-infrared, and radio regimes, we found a twice higher AGN fraction than previous studies, thanks to the combined AGN identification methods and in particular the recent Mass-Excitation (MEx) diagnostic diagram. We furthermore find an intriguing relation between AGN X-ray absorption and the specific star formation rate (sSFR) of the host galaxies, indicating a physical link between X-ray absorption and either the gas fraction or the gas geometry in the hosts. These findings have implications for our current understanding of both the AGN unification model and the nature of the black hole-galaxy connection.

We present an update of the monitoring campaign we have undertaken to probe the most massive black holes in powerful quasars at high redshift through the reverberation mapping technique. Once this campaign has finished, we will be able to directly measure broad line region (BLR) sizes of quasars at z ~ 2−3, improving dramatically the BLR size-luminosity relation, and therefore, black hole mass estimates based on this relationship. So far, we have identified a dozen highly variable sources suitable for future cross-correlation analysis and reverberation measurements.

We have obtained long slit spectra of 3C 67 and 3C 277.1 with the HST/STIS spectrograph. We present our preliminary results on the diagnostic emission line ratios along the radio source axes in 3C 67 and 3C 277.1.