Is there a connection between broad absorption line quasars and narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies?

We consider whether broad absorption line quasars (BAL QSOs) and narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) are similar, as suggested by Brandt and Gallagher and Boroson. For this purpose, we constructed a sample of 11 BAL QSOs from existing Chandra and Swift observations. We found that BAL QSOs and NLS1s both operate at high Eddington ratios L/L_Edd, although BAL QSOs have slightly lower L/L_Edd. BAL QSOs and NLS1s in general have high Fe ii/Hβ and low [O iii]/Hβ ratios following the classic “Boroson and Green” eigenvector 1 relation. We also found that the mass accretion rates M-dot of BAL QSOs and NLS1s are more similar than previously thought, although some BAL QSOs exhibit extreme mass accretion rates of more than 10 M_⊙ yr⁻¹. These extreme mass accretion rates may suggest that the black holes in BAL QSOs are relativistically spinning. Black hole masses in BAL QSOs are a factor of 100 larger than NLS1s. From their location on a M−σ plot, we find that BAL QSOs contain fully developed black holes. Applying a principal component analysis to our sample, we find eigenvector 1 to correspond to the Eddington ratio L/L_Edd, and eigenvector 2 to black hole mass.