AGN outflows and its variability

Abstract

The radiative mode of AGN feedback, operated through outflows, plays an essential role in the evolution of galaxies. Quasar outflows are detected as blue-shifted broad absorption lines in the UV/optical spectra of quasars. Thanks to the Sloan digital sky survey, 100,000 broad absorption line quasars are available now for ensemble statistical studies. This rich dataset has also enabled us to identify some peculiar cases of these sources. By quantifying the BAL fraction in radio-loud BAL quasars, our studies demonstrate a clear trend of increasing BAL fraction as the viewing angle approaches an edge-on orientation, favoring the orientation model of BAL quasars. Also, by contrasting the properties of BAL quasars with appearing and disappearing BAL troughs, our analysis suggests that the extreme variations in BAL troughs are driven by ionization changes.