Absorption-line survey of 32 QSOs at red wavelengths - properties of the Mg II absorbers

The results of a survey of 32 QSOs for Mg II absorption at red wavelengths are presented, and the properties of the metal absorption systems are investigated. When interpreted in terms of ejection, the Mg II absorption systems are randomly distributed in velocity relative to the QSOs, although the systems may cluster on scales of a few thousand km/s. This is consistent with the absorption systems arising in intervening material not associated with the QSOs. The equivalent width distribution of the Mg II systems is well fitted by either an exponential or a power-law distribution, with the number density of the absorption systems increasing with decreasing rest equivalent width. There is marginally significant evidence for cosmological evolution of the number density of the Mg II absorbers, and no evidence for evolution of the Mg II equivalent width distribution with redshift. 42 references