The Submillimeter Properties of Broad Absorption Line Quasars

Abstract

We have carried out the first systematic survey of the submillimeter properties of broad absorption line (BAL) quasars. Thirty BAL quasars drawn from a homogeneously selected sample from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey at redshifts 2 < z < 2.6 were observed with the SCUBA array at the JCMT to a typical rms sensitivity of 2.5 mJy. Eight quasars were detected at greater than 2 sigma significance, four of which are at greater than 3 sigma significance. The far-infrared luminosities of these quasars are greater than 10(13) L.. There is no correlation of submillimeter flux with either the strength of the broad absorption feature or with absolute magnitude in our sample. We compare the submillimeter flux distribution of the BAL quasar sample with that of a sample of quasars that do not show BAL features in their optical spectra and find that the two are indistinguishable. BAL quasars do not have higher submillimeter luminosities than non-BAL quasars. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that all quasars would contain a BAL if viewed along a certain line of sight. The data are inconsistent with a model in which the BAL phenomenon indicates a special evolutionary stage that coincides with a large dust mass in the host galaxy and a high submillimeter luminosity. Our work provides constraints on alternative evolutionary explanations of BAL quasars.