THE CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF LOW-REDSHIFT QSOs

We investigate the chemical properties of low-z QSOs, using archival UV spectra obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope and International Ultraviolet Explorer for a sample of 70 Palomar-Green QSOs at z < 0.5. By utilizing the flux ratios of UV emission lines (i.e., N V/C IV, (Si IV+O IV])/C IV, and N V/He II) as metallicity indicators, we compare broad-line region (BLR) gas metallicity with active galactic nucleus (AGN) properties, i.e., black hole (BH) mass, luminosity, and Eddington ratio. We find that BLR metallicity correlates with Eddington ratio while the dependency on BH mass is much weaker. Although these trends of low-z AGNs appear to be different from those of high-z QSOs, the difference between low-z and high-z samples is partly caused by the limited dynamical range of the samples. We find that metal enrichment at the center of galaxies is closely connected to the accretion activity of BHs and that the scatter of metallicity correlations with BH mass increases over cosmic time.