Connecting the X-ray properties of weak-line and typical quasars: testing for a geometrically thick accretion disk

TL;DR

This study investigates the X-ray properties of weak-line quasars, finding a strong correlation between C IV emission-line strength and X-ray weakness, supporting a model where a thick inner accretion disk causes the observed phenomena.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive analysis linking X-ray weakness with C IV REW in WLQs, supporting the shielding model with new observational evidence.

Findings

X-ray weak fraction declines sharply with increasing C IV REW.

Hard X-ray spectra support the shielding model for WLQs.

Red UV continuum color correlates with X-ray weakness.

Abstract

We present X-ray and multiwavelength analyses of 32 weak emission-line quasars (WLQs) selected in a consistent and unbiased manner. New $Chandra$ 3.1-4.8 ks observations were obtained for 14 of these WLQs with C IV rest-frame equivalent widths (REWs) of 5-15 \r{A}, and these serve as an X-ray observational "bridge" between previously studied WLQs with C IV REW $\lesssim$ 5 \r{A} and more-typical quasars with C IV REW $\approx$ 15-100 \r{A}. We have identified and quantified a strong dependence of the fraction of X-ray weak quasars upon C IV REW; this fraction declines by a factor of $\approx 13$ (from $\approx 44$% to $\approx 3$%) for C IV REW ranging from 4-50 \r{A}, and the rate of decline appears particularly strong in the 10-20 \r{A} range. The dependence broadly supports the proposed "shielding" model for WLQs, in which a geometrically and optically thick inner accretion disk, expected for a quasar accreting at a high Eddington ratio, both prevents ionizing EUV/X-ray photons from reaching the high-ionization broad emission-line region and also sometimes blocks the line-of-sight to the central X-ray emitting region. This model is also supported by the hard average spectral shape of X-ray weak WLQs (with a power-law effective photon index of $\Gamma_{\rm eff}=1.19^{+0.56}_{-0.45}$). Additionally, we have examined UV continuum/emission-line properties that might trace X-ray weakness among WLQs, confirming that red UV continuum color is the most-effective tracer.