Exploratory X-Ray Monitoring of Luminous Radio-Quiet Quasars at High Redshift: Extended Time-Series Analyses and Stacked Imaging Spectroscopy

TL;DR

This study conducts an extensive X-ray and optical-UV time-series analysis of high-redshift radio-quiet quasars, revealing their variability properties and spectral characteristics over multi-year baselines, consistent with lower-redshift counterparts.

Contribution

It provides the first extended multi-epoch X-ray monitoring of high-redshift RQQs, combining variability analysis with stacked spectroscopy and near-simultaneous optical data.

Findings

X-ray variability is similar or lower than lower-redshift quasars.

Mean X-ray spectral slopes are consistent over years.

Optical-UV variability is mild and aligns with lower-redshift trends.

Abstract

We present three new Chandra X-ray epochs along with new ground-based optical-UV observations as the third installment in a time-series analysis of four high-redshift ($z\sim4.1-4.4$) radio-quiet quasars (RQQs). In total, we present nine epochs for these sources with rest-frame temporal baselines of $\sim1300-2000$ days. We utilize the X-ray data to determine basic variability properties, as well as produce mean spectra and stacked images based on effective exposure times of $\sim40-70$ ks per source. We perform time-series analyses in the soft and hard bands, separately, and compare variability properties to those of sources at lower redshifts and luminosities. The magnitude of X-ray variability of our sources remains consistent with or lower than that of similar sources at lower redshifts, in agreement with the variability-luminosity anti-correlation. The mean power-law photon indices in the stacked Chandra spectra of our sources are consistent with the values measured from their archival XMM-Newton spectra separated by about three years in the rest frame. Along with the X-ray observations we provide near-simultaneous optical monitoring of the sources in the optical-UV regime. The overall variability in the optical-to-X-ray spectral slope is consistent with sources at lower redshifts and the optical-UV observations display mild variability on monthly timescales.