No redshift evolution in the rest-frame ultraviolet emission line properties of quasars from z=1.5 to z=4.0

We analyse the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) spectra of 2531 high-redshift (3.5 < z < 4.0) quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR16Q catalogue. In combination with previous work, we study the redshift evolution of the rest-frame UV line properties across the entire redshift range, 1.5 < z < 4.0. We improve the systemic redshift estimates at z > 3.5 using a cross-correlation algorithm that employs high signal-to-noise template spectra spanning the full range in UV emission line properties. We then quantify the evolution of C IV and He II emission line properties with redshift. The increase in C IV blueshifts with cosmological redshift can be fully explained by the higher luminosities of quasars observed at high redshifts. We recover broadly similar trends between the He II equivalent width and C IV blueshift at both 1.5 < z < 2.65 and 3.5 < z < 4.0 suggesting that the blueshift depends systematically on the spectral energy density (SED) of the quasar and there is no evolution in the SED over the redshift range 1.5 < z < 4.0. C IV blueshifts are highest when L/L-Edd >= 0.2 and M-BH >= 10(9) M-circle dot for the entire 1.5 < z < 4.0 sample. We find that luminosity matching samples as a means to explore the evolution of their rest-frame UV emission line properties is only viable if the samples are also matched in the M-BH-L/L-Edd plane. Quasars at z >= 6 are on average less massive and have higher Eddington-scaled accretion rates than their luminosity-matched counterparts at 1.5 < z < 4.0, which could explain the observed evolution in their UV line properties.

Automated summary

We analyse the rest-frame UV spectra of 2531 high-redshift (3.5 < z < 4.0) quasars and study the redshift evolution of their UV line properties. The increase in C IV blueshifts with cosmological redshift can be explained by higher quasar luminosities at high redshifts. We find a similar trend between the He II equivalent width and C IV blueshift, suggesting a dependence on the quasar's spectral energy density and no evolution in the SED over the redshift range. C IV blueshifts are highest when L/L-Edd >= 0.2 and M-BH >= 10^9 M-circle dot for the entire sample.