Highly accreting quasars: Sample definition and possible cosmological implications

Abstract

We propose a method to identify quasars radiating closest to the Eddington limit, defining primary and secondary selection criteria in the optical, UV and X-ray spectral range based on the 4D eigenvector 1 formalism. We then show that it is possible to derive a redshiftindependent estimate of luminosity for extreme Eddington ratio sources. Using preliminary samples of these sources in three redshift intervals (as well as two mock samples), we test a range of cosmological models. Results are consistent with concordance cosmology but the data are insufficient for deriving strong constraints. Mock samples indicate that application of the method proposed in this paper using dedicated observations would allow us to set stringent limits on ΩM and significant constraints on Ω{n-ary logical and}. © 2014 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.