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# Active Galactic Nuclei in the CNOC2 Field Galaxy Redshift Survey

## 1 Introduction

Distant Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), including quasars and Seyferts, have most often been selected at optical wavelengths as outliers from the stellar locus defined by broadband color measurements (e.g., Warren et al. 1991). The two largest ongoing quasar surveys both rely on color selection to provide candidate lists (Fan & SDSS Collaboration 1999b; Boyle et al. 1999). Exploration of areas of color space outside reasonable quasar selection boundaries shows that such color selection misses few quasars in magnitude-limited samples (Hall et al. 1996a, b, c). This allows the incompleteness of color-selected quasar samples to be calculated and used to determine the true luminosity function and space density of quasars (Warren et al. 1994). However, Webster et al. (1995) have presented a radio-selected quasar sample which includes some very red objects which would not be detectable in traditional optical surveys in numbers representative of their true space densities. Also, radio selection of quasars has proven more sensitive than optical selection to the unusual subclass of quasars known as Low-ionization Broad Absorption Line Quasars (LoBALs; Becker et al. 1997, 2000). Many of these objects show strong absorption from metastable excited states of Fe ii and Fe iii (Iron LoBALs) and at least some of them are highly reddened (Egami et al. 1996; Hall et al. 1997). Depending on how common substantial dust obscuration is in quasars (Francis et al. 1999; Kim & Elvis 1999) and in intervening galaxies (Fall & Pei 1993), substantial proportions of the true quasar population and of the populations of some quasar subclasses could be missing from existing surveys.

Therefore it is of interest to obtain samples of AGN selected at different wavelengths, with a variety of methods with different selection biases such as morphological selection at high redshift (Sarajedini et al. 1999; Beck-Winchatz & Anderson 1999) and variability selection (Cimatti et al. 1993; Hawkins & Veron 1995), and especially with as few selection criteria as possible. One obvious way to achieve this latter goal in the optical is through purely magnitude-limited samples. The low surface density of AGN relative to stars and galaxies means that only very small samples of AGN with minimal selection criteria have been assembled in this manner to date. Schade (1991) and Colless et al. (1991) discuss samples of five and two AGN, respectively, discovered using very low resolution spectroscopy ($``$50-75 Å FWHM). Schade et al. (1996), Cohen et al. (1999) and Cohen et al. (2000) discuss samples of six, three and three AGN, respectively, discovered in moderate resolution spectroscopic redshift surveys. All these AGN were selected only by magnitude and broad-line detectability. The emission line equivalent widths of the Schade et al. (1996) sample do not differ significantly from those of Hartwick & Schade (1990) or Francis et al. (1991). However, five of the six quasars have continuum spectral indices redder than the median of the large sample of Francis et al. (1991), although this difference is not statistically significant given the small sample size.

In this paper we present a sample of AGN discovered spectroscopically in the Canadian Network for Observation Cosmology field galaxy redshift survey (hereafter CNOC2). This sample was selected without reference to broadband color and is the largest AGN sample yet assembled directly from moderate-resolution spectroscopy. We discuss the CNOC2 dataset in §2, present the AGN sample in §3, provide notes on individual AGN in §4–6, discuss the properties of the sample in §7, and summarize our conclusions in §8. We adopt $`H_0`$=50 km s-1 Mpc-1, $`q_0`$=0.5 and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$=0 for ease of comparison to previous AGN studies.

## 2 Data

The CNOC2 dataset is discussed in Yee et al. (2000) and only relevant details are summarized here (cf. Lin et al. 1999). $`UBgR_cI_c`$ imaging and spectroscopy were obtained using the Multi-Object Spectrograph (MOS) on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), with the $`g`$ photometry calibrated to $`V`$ magnitudes. The survey covers four patches on the sky, each of which is a mosaic of 17 to 19 contiguous MOS fields of size 7.3′ or 8.3′ $`\times `$ 9′. Spectroscopy was obtained for $`50`$% of $`R<21.5`$ galaxies using two slit masks per field with two exposures per mask (20 to 40 minutes each), slits of width 1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$3 and minimum length 10$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$5, and $``$100 objects per mask. The final rebinned 1-D spectra cover 4390 to 6292.21 Å at 4.89 Å/pixel and resolution $``$14.8 Å. The slit masks were created using images obtained and catalogued using PPP (Yee 1991) during each run, and slits were assigned only to objects morphologically classified by PPP as galaxies or probable galaxies in the $`R`$ images. However, there were a few cases where morphologically classified stars were observed spectroscopically: if they serendipitously fell on the slits, if they were located in a region of the mask empty of target galaxies and a slit could be added without affecting previously assigned slits, or if they were accidentally classified as galaxies in the “summit” catalogs used to create the masks, but not on the final catalogs constructed after exhaustive quality checks. This misclassification could happen either because they were confused with other very nearby objects or because they were located in poorly focused areas where careful PSF construction is necessary for accurate star-galaxy separation.

Galaxy redshifts were determined by cross-correlation with a set of three templates: one absorption-line, one emission + absorption, and one emission-dominated. The choice of template to use, and thus the spectral class and redshift assigned to the galaxy, was only made after an interactive review which involved examining the direct and spectroscopic images as well as the final 1-D spectra. This process enabled broad lines or other unusual spectral features to be flagged.

In the CNOC2 catalog (2000 April version), a total of 6178 galaxies and AGN have measured redshifts, 226 objects were spectroscopically classified as stars, and 564 objects remain unidentified despite having a spectrum with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) nominally sufficient for classification. By design, the vast majority of objects with spectra are morphologically classified galaxies. Despite the large variation of the PSF across the MOS field, the morphological star-galaxy separation is quite robust: only 39 morphologically classified galaxies are spectroscopically classified as stars, and of the 288 morphologically classified stars for which spectra adequate for classification were obtained, 146 are spectroscopically classified as stars, 65 as galaxies and 17 as AGN or candidate AGN, while 60 remain unidentified.

## 3 Selection of AGN

The CNOC2 data reduction pipeline includes several interactive steps in which AGN were identified and noted in a single log file: during spectral extraction, during cross correlation, and during final redshift verification (Yee et al. 2000). The 2-D and 1-D spectra were examined by at least two different people. Spectra of all candidate AGN, all spectroscopically unclassified objects, and all emission-line objects were then examined by eye by one of us (PBH) to assemble the final AGN sample. AGN were identified not only from broad emission lines in their spectra (see Table 1 for the most common lines), but also from narrow \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3346 or \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426 emission (§5) and from Fe ii or Mg ii absorption lines (§6). The identification of narrow line AGN at $`z0.6`$ (e.g., from emission line ratios) is beyond the scope of this paper. Possible causes of spurious lines include zeroth order emission, cosmic rays, spatially and spectrally adjacent slit overlaps, and flatfield residuals. These are ruled out in each case by visual inspection of the 2-D spectra.

Redshifts for emission line objects without \[O ii\] $`\lambda `$3727 emission or other lines present in the cross-correlation templates were measured by fitting Gaussians to all absorption or emission lines, assuming $`1\sigma `$ redshift uncertainties of 0.425 times the FWHM of the line, and taking the average redshift where appropriate. Because of the limited spectral coverage, at certain redshifts either no strong line or only one is expected to be visible. At $`1.24z1.31`$ neither Mg ii$`\lambda `$2798 nor C iii\] $`\lambda `$1909 will be visible. There is a potential degeneracy between Mg ii at $`0.58<z<0.94`$ and C iii\] at $`1.31<z<1.84`$, although it can be broken at $`z0.685`$ if \[O ii\] $`\lambda `$3727 is present. The Mg ii/C iii\] degeneracy can also be broken if associated absorption is present since it cannot appear in C iii\]; however, absorption does occasionally appear in Al iii$`\lambda `$1858 so a redshift derived from this distinction is not as definite as a two-line redshift. It is also possible that a single line could be C iv$`\lambda `$1549 if other lines that would be visible in that case (e.g., C iii\] $`\lambda `$1909, Si iv/O iv\] $`\lambda `$1400, C ii$`\lambda `$1335, O i$`\lambda `$1302) are weak, but from inspection of the spectra we do not believe this could be the case for any of the CNOC2 AGN except perhaps 0223.021739 (§4).

### 3.1 Magnitudes, Coordinates, and Literature IDs

In Tables 13 we provide the redshifts, spectroscopic $`R_{cor}`$ values ($`R_{cor}`$ is the signal-to-noise ratio of the redshift correlation peak, cf. Yee et al. 1996b), morphological classifications (see §7.1), and emission-line equivalent widths (see §7.6) for all CNOC2 AGN. All CNOC2 objects are referred to by a four-digit patch code plus a six-digit field+object code after a decimal point; e.g., 2148.050488 is object 488 of field 5 of patch 2148 (Yee et al. 2000). In Table 4 we provide coordinates, apparent UBVRI magnitudes corrected for Galactic extinction as outlined in Yee et al. (2000), and absolute $`B`$ magnitudes $`M_B`$ for all AGN. Optical distortions in the MOS instrument prevent direct transformation of CCD x and y to RA and Dec coordinates, but a simple model of this distortion is used to produce reasonably accurate relative coordinates in the CNOC2 photometric catalog (Yee et al. 2000). To convert these coordinates to RA and Dec, each CCD field was first matched to the USNO-A1.0 catalog (Monet et al. 1996) to provide rough RA and Dec coordinates, and then each patch was fit as a whole to the USNO-A1.0 catalog. The resulting coordinates are accurate to $`\pm `$1″ for most objects. $`M_B`$ values were computed from the observed $`B`$ magnitudes ($`V`$ magnitudes for the two $`z>4`$ objects) using the $`k`$-corrections of Cristiani & Vio (1990). Note that these $`k`$-corrections will be inappropriate for any absorption-line objects which are actually star-forming galaxies.

A search was made for objects within 1′ of each object’s position using NED,111The NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. the NVSS catalog (Condon et al. 1998), and (for the 0223+00 and 0920+37 patches only) the FIRST catalog (Becker et al. 1995). Only two objects are coincident with sources previously known at any wavelength within the combined positional uncertainties: both 0223.130495 and 2148.102026 are radio sources. They are the only objects of ours detected by NVSS or FIRST, and both are radio-loud. See §4.1 for discussion of the identifications.

### 3.2 Redshift and Absolute Magnitude Distributions

Figure 1a shows the redshift histogram for all AGN. The solid line shows only broad emission-line (BEL) selected objects, the dashed line those plus \[Ne v\] selected objects, and the dotted line all AGN, including absorption-line selected candidates. We consider all the BEL AGN to be confirmed AGN. The only confirmed AGN among the absorption-line objects is 2148.050488 at $`z=1.328`$ (see §6.2); the rest are merely candidate AGN. The two highest redshift AGN in the sample are the third and fourth serendipitously discovered at $`z>4`$ (McCarthy et al. 1988; Schneider et al. 1994), but considerably more spectra were obtained to find these objects than in the previous cases. Figure 1b shows the redshift histogram with every single-emission-line object of uncertain redshift given its C iii\] redshift instead of Mg ii (or the reverse in two cases). Both histograms show the expected scarcity at $`1.24z1.31`$ where no line is expected to be visible. Spectroscopy with wider wavelength coverage will be needed to pin down the redshifts of the single-emission-line objects.

Figure 2 shows absolute $`B`$ magnitudes vs. redshift for all CNOC2 AGN. On average $`M_B=22.25`$ for confirmed AGN. This is below the traditional division between quasars and Seyferts at $`M_B=23`$ ($`H_0`$=50, $`q_0`$=0.5). These magnitudes are based on an average $`k`$-correction (§3.1). Individual quasars’ magnitudes may show variations of up to $`\pm `$0$`\stackrel{\mathrm{m}}{\mathrm{.}}`$5 from this average, in line with the spread seen in their $`UB`$ and $`BV`$ colors at low redshift (§7.2). Host galaxy contamination may also be significant in some objects, especially for the fainter AGN whose magnitudes may be comparable to those of their hosts.

### 3.3 Spectra

Figures 34 show the spectra of the broad emission line selected AGN, Figure 5 the spectra of the \[Ne v\] emission selected AGN, and Figure 6 the spectra of the absorption line selected AGN candidates. Objects are displayed in order of increasing redshift. Where multiple spectra of the same object were available, they were combined with a simple average. Notes on individual objects are provided in the following sections.

## 4 Broad Emission-Line AGN

In the following discussions we use the term neighbor to mean a galaxy close to the AGN on the sky, and reserve the term companion for a galaxy known to be at the AGN redshift. When discussing the morphology of the CNOC2 AGN host galaxies, it must be remembered that the MOS imaging has a coarse pixel scale, typically 0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$438/pixel, and that there is significant defocusing across the chip, resulting in image quality and resolution that is not particularly good in general. Using the CFH12k mosaic CCD camera on CFHT, we have obtained higher quality images of most of the CNOC2 area as part of the Red-Sequence Cluster Survey (Gladders & Yee 2000; Gladders et al. 2000). Where possible, we discuss the morphology of our AGN based on these images, since they are at least a magnitude deeper than the CNOC2 imaging, have better resolution (0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$6-0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$8 FWHM), and are better sampled (0$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$2/pixel).

### 4.1 Notes on Individual Broad Emission-Line AGN

##### 0223.190359

This $`z=0.27`$ object shows narrow \[O ii\] plus broad He ii$`\lambda `$4686, H$`\gamma `$, and possibly H$`\beta `$ emission. Morphologically it is a well resolved, high surface brightness, round galaxy.

##### 0223.130495

This $`z=0.528`$ object shows moderately broad (FWHM$``$1200 km s-1) \[O ii\] emission and a very blue continuum with strong broad features. Fe ii emission seems the likely identification for these features. However, the only obvious correspondences with the Fe ii emission spectrum of the narrow-line quasar I Zw 1 (Laor et al. 1997) are the break at 4565 Å observed (2987 Å rest) with the red edge of the Fe ii UV multiplets 60 and 78, and the emission at 4880 Å observed (3193 Å rest) with emission from Fe ii optical multiplets 6 and 7. There is some correspondence with the theoretical Fe ii spectra of Verner et al. (1999, their Figure 12b), particularly at 3100–3500 Å. Alternatively, the possible emission features blueward of 4565 Å, at 4735–4785 Å, and at 4845–4900 Å might be identified with the 2970, 3130, and 3200 Å features seen in the composite quasar spectrum of Francis et al. (1991). Morphologically, the object has a nucleated center, but is clearly resolved.

0223.130495 is identified with the radio-loud quasar PKS 0222+000, a 278 mJy 1.4 GHz source barely resolved by FIRST (Becker et al. 1995). The spectrum of Wilkes et al. (1983) is of too low SNR to show the unidentified broad features seen in our spectrum. Condon et al. (1976) reported variable colors in this object, measuring $`m_{pg}`$=18 compared to $`m_{pg}`$=19 in Berger & Fringant (1985), and Dunlop et al. (1989) reported $`B`$=19.8$`\pm `$0.5 and $`R`$=18.3$`\pm `$0.5 compared to the $`B`$=18.93$`\pm `$0.03 and $`R`$=18.27$`\pm `$0.03 that we measure. This object may have developed the unidentified broad features in the blue in the $``$8 years (rest frame) between the observations of Dunlop et al. (1989) in 1984 June – 1985 September and our observations in 1996 October.

##### 2148.151660

The redshift of this $`z=0.60233`$ object comes from possible weak \[O ii\] emission, corroborated by emission from Mg ii$`\lambda `$2798 and the 2970 Å, 3130 Å, and 3200 Å features of Francis et al. (1991), which may be Fe ii features (Laor et al. 1997) or O iii$`\lambda `$3133 in the case of the 3130 Å feature. There is also possible weak \[Ne v\] emission. The object is compact but clearly extended with a relatively large, low surface brightness halo in the direct images.

##### 0920.081010

This $`z=0.64744`$ object shows broad Mg ii and narrow \[O ii\] $`\lambda `$3727 emission. The redshift was derived from the latter. Morphologically the object may be slightly resolved on the MOS imaging. CFH12k $`Rz^{}`$ imaging (§4) definitely resolves the object, and in addition shows it to be surrounded by faint diffuse emission which is strongest to the NNW.

##### 2148.102026

This $`z=0.65243`$ object exhibits both \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426 and \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3346 as well as narrow \[O ii\] and broad Mg ii. The Mg ii line has an exceptionally large equivalent width. It either has associated absorption redward of the narrow-line emission redshift or has a double-peaked profile with the blue peak at the narrow-line redshift and the red peak $``$3700$`\pm `$100 km s-1 redward of it. Possible emission is also seen at $``$3130 Å and $``$3200 Å, which could correspond to the unidentified features of Francis et al. (1991) or to O iii$`\lambda `$3133 in the first case. The object is in a region of poor focus and large PSF distortions. Thus its proper classification is difficult to determine, but it does appear more extended than a nearby star of about the same brightness, so its classification as stellar may be in error.

2148.102026 is identified with the “symmetric double” radio source TXS 2149–059 (Douglas et al. 1996), and is also detected by NVSS as a resolved 176.4$`\pm `$6.1 mJy 1.4 GHz source (Condon et al. 1998).

About 20 examples of double-peaked emission lines in AGN are known, mostly in broad-line radio galaxies (Eracleous & Halpern 1994, 1998). For this reason, and given the good agreement of the blue peak and the narrow-line redshift, we believe the double-peaked profile is the more likely explanation for this object’s Mg ii emission profile. However, double-peaked Mg ii is rare; for example, only one or two possible candidates are present among over 500 radio-selected AGN with Mg ii coverage from the FIRST Bright Quasar Survey (White et al. 2000). Thus this object is clearly worthy of further study.

##### 1447.170990

This $`z=0.667`$ object shows broad Mg ii and narrow \[O ii\] $`\lambda `$3727 emission. There narrow emission at 5313.9 Å observed (3187.6 Å rest) is probably spurious. It has a neighbor or extension visible about 1″ to the W in the $`g`$, $`R`$ and $`I`$ images, but is nonetheless unresolved and classified as a star.

##### 1447.051040

This object has one broad line which is assumed to be Mg ii at $`z=0.699`$ due to the presence of associated absorption. If the line were C iv at $`z=3.07`$, C iii\] would have to be abnormally weak. Morphologically the object appears to be stellar but with faint symmetric fuzz, and it is classified as a galaxy. There is a galaxy of unknown redshift only 1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$8 to the NW (1447.051044).

##### 1447.050689

This object has one moderately broad line which is assumed to be Mg ii at $`z=0.701`$, although an identification of C iii\] at $`z=1.493`$ cannot be ruled out.

##### 2148.040045

This object has one broad line which is assumed to be Mg ii at $`z=0.728`$, although an identification of C iii\] at $`z=1.532`$ cannot be ruled out. This object has a bright nucleus but is clearly extended and asymmetric, with emission to the NW and fainter emission to the NE.

##### 2148.031234

This object has one broad line which is assumed to be Mg ii at $`z=0.732`$, although an identification of C iii\] at $`z=1.539`$ cannot be ruled out. This object is clearly extended, and there is a galaxy of unknown redshift 4$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$1 to the SE (2148.031219).

This object has been serendipitously imaged in an ongoing HST WFPC2 $`F814W`$ band survey of CNOC2 galaxy pairs (Patton et al. 2000)222Based on data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. under NASA contract No. NAS5-26555.. It is clearly resolved into a pointlike AGN and a diffuse, apparently bulgeless host galaxy whose isophotes are not centered on the AGN. It could be a face-on spiral galaxy or possibly a disturbed system. The galaxy 4$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$1 to the SE is resolved, quite compact, and also asymmetric, but there is no clear evidence for any interaction between the two galaxies.

##### 0920.182673

This object is definitely resolved, possibly with faint extended emission (the unresolved red object about 3″ to the SW, 0920.182662, did not affect its classification). This object shows \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3346 and \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426 emission at $`z=0.74`$ and Mg ii$`\lambda `$2798 blueshifted by –1350$`\pm `$150 km s-1, a large but not unprecendented blueshift (Tytler & Fan 1992). Note that we cannot completely rule out a very narrow-lined quasar at $`z=2.129`$ with C iv$`\lambda `$1549, Al iii$`\lambda `$1858, C iii\] $`\lambda `$1909 and possibly Si iv/O iv\] $`\lambda `$1400 emission in the extreme blue. However, the extreme weakness of C iv and C iii\] and Al iii in that case, the low probability of such a large host galaxy at $`z2`$, and the better fit of the two reddest lines to the wavelengths of \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3346 and \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426 than Al iii$`\lambda `$1858 and C iii\] $`\lambda `$1909 all lead us to adopt the $`z=0.74`$ ID.

##### 1447.161148

This object has one broad line which is assumed to be Mg ii at $`z=0.77`$, although an identification of C iii\] at $`z=1.59`$ cannot be ruled out. There is a neighboring galaxy of unknown redshift located 2$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$4 to the NE (1447.161160). It may be responsible for this object being classified as a probable galaxy, or the object may in fact be slightly resolved.

##### 1447.090674

This object has one broad line which we identify as Mg ii at $`z=0.79`$ since it shows associated absorption; it cannot be C iv since both Si iv/O iv\] and C iii\] would be missing in that case. Morphologically this is a slightly resolved, compact object of high surface brightness.

##### 1447.081984

This object has one moderately broad line which is assumed to be Mg ii at $`z=0.841`$, although an identification of C iii\] at $`z=1.698`$ cannot be ruled out. This unresolved object was added to its spectroscopic mask by hand to fill an empty area.

##### 0920.080251

This $`z=0.861`$ object shows a single broad emission line (which falls atop the 5200 Å night sky line) which we identify as Mg ii due to the presence of associated absorption. It is likely unresolved and forms a close pair with a faint red galaxy to the SSE. The objects were not separated by PPP and were classified as a single galaxy.

##### 0223.021739

This object shows one broad emission line with associated absorption. We identify it as Mg ii at $`z=0.886`$, but C iv at $`z=2.407`$ cannot be ruled out. There is possible weak Si iv/O iv\] emission which might corroborate the C iv interpretation, but it is slightly blueward of the expected wavelength. The object’s colors are consistent with either redshift. Morphologically it is unresolved.

##### 2148.110259

This object has one broad line which is assumed to be Mg ii at $`z=0.888`$, although an identification of C iii\] at $`z=1.767`$ is possible. It is classified as a probable galaxy, but appears barely resolved at best. There is a galaxy of unknown redshift 2$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$5 to the ENE (2148.110273), but the two were separated by PPP so it is unlikely to be responsible for the AGN’s classification as a probable galaxy.

##### 0920.140041

This $`z=0.94`$ object shows only one line, which is almost certainly Mg ii. C iii\] at $`z=1.84`$ cannot be ruled out entirely, since although there is no sign of the C iv emission expected in that case, it would be present in the extreme blue where the SNR is low. The direct images show a compact or stellar object with a close neighbor or extension to the NE. CFH12k $`Rz^{}`$ imaging (§4) suggests that the emission to the NE is a neighbor rather than an extension.

##### 2148.011928

This object has one broad line which is identified with Mg ii at $`z=1.063`$, since C iv would be missing if the line were C iii\] and since the line may show associated absorption. The object has a high surface brightness core but is clearly extended to the SE and possibly the NE in the direct images.

##### 1447.090792

This object has one broad line which is identified with Mg ii at $`z=1.12`$, since C iv would be missing if the line were C iii\]. The line falls atop the 5892 Å night sky line and thus is partially interpolated over, but it shows no unusual features (such as associated absorption) in the raw spectrum. It has a close red neighbor galaxy in the direct images (1447.090780).

##### 1447.150051

This object shows one broad line which we identify as Mg ii at $`z=1.165`$, since C iv would be missing if the line were C iii\]. The object appears compact with an extension to the WSW in the $`g`$ image, which has the best seeing.

##### 2148.060762

This object has one broad line which is assumed to be C iii\] at $`z=1.38`$ because \[O ii\] $`\lambda `$3727 would be missing if the line was Mg ii$`\lambda `$2798 at $`z=0.624`$, although that identification cannot be ruled out. Possible Al iii$`\lambda `$1858 emission at the extreme blue end of the spectrum also supports the C iii\] redshift. The object is in the halo of a bright star near the edge of the CCD image, but it is nonetheless resolved.

##### 1447.162128

This object has a blue continuum and one broad line which we identify as C iii\] at $`z=1.77`$ because of a blue shoulder which matches Al iii$`\lambda `$1858; however, an identification of Mg ii at $`z=0.89`$ cannot be ruled out. Morphologically, the object is almost certainly unresolved, but is classified as a probable galaxy. There is a galaxy of unknown redshift 2$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$5 to the NE (1447.162145), but the two were separated by PPP so confusion is unlikely to be responsible for the apparent misclassification.

##### 0223.151505

This $`z=1.82835`$ object shows only one line in the CNOC2 data. Its identification as C iii\] comes from a serendipitous spectrum obtained in 1999 August during a program to measure H$`\alpha `$ from a subset of CNOC2 galaxies with known redshifts (Morris et al. 2000). There may be a very faint neighbor or extension to the NW which might be responsible for this object’s classification as a probable galaxy. However, it is near the corner of a CCD image where image quality is poor and may in fact be unresolved.

##### 0920.020246

This $`z=1.94`$ object shows C iv, He ii$`\lambda `$1640+O iii\] $`\lambda `$1663, and C iii\] emission and possible associated absorption in C iv. Morphologically the object is classified as unresolved, but there is faint low surface brightness emission to the S.

This object has been imaged in an ongoing HST WFPC2 $`F814W`$ band survey of CNOC2 galaxy pairs (Patton et al. 2000). It is unresolved and the low surface brightness emission is clearly a faint neighbor galaxy.

##### 1447.131920

This $`z=1.965`$ object shows strong moderately broad C iv emission as well as C iii\] and possibly He ii$`\lambda `$1640 emission. Morphologically it is a well resolved object.

##### 1447.171440

This $`z=2.00`$ object shows C iv, He ii$`\lambda `$1640+O iii\] $`\lambda `$1663 and C iii\] emission. It has a neighbor or extension visible to the E in the $`R`$ and $`I`$ images which may be responsible for it being classified as a probable galaxy, or it may in fact be very slightly resolved.

##### 1447.132036

This $`z=2.02`$ object shows C iv emission with associated absorption and C iii\] emission. The object may be resolved, or it may be unresolved with the faint extension or envelope visible to the NE responsible for its classification as a probable galaxy.

##### 0223.030993

This $`z=2.092`$ object shows C iv and C iii\] emission. Morphologically it is unresolved, but was classified as a probable galaxy in the summit catalog.

This object has been imaged in an ongoing HST WFPC2 $`F814W`$ band survey of CNOC2 galaxy pairs (Patton et al. 2000). It appears as a very compact object, consistent with an unresolved nucleus and a faint, barely resolved host galaxy.

##### 0920.092046

This object’s spectrum shows one broad line with strong associated absorption, plus several probable absorption lines blueward of the line. The line could be Mg ii at $`z=0.91`$, but the object’s relatively red $`UB`$ and very red $`BV`$ and $`VR`$ colors suggest that C iv at $`z=2.45`$ is more likely despite the lack of observed O i$`\lambda `$1302, C ii$`\lambda `$1335 or Si iv/O iv\] $`\lambda `$1400 emission. Morphologically, on the $`R`$ image used for classification and mask design it is situated in a badly defocussed region and is classified as a probable galaxy in the summit catalog. It appears resolved on other MOS images and is clearly resolved in CFH12k $`Rz^{}`$ imaging (§4).

##### 0223.051932

This $`z=2.51`$ object shows broad Si iv/O iv\] $`\lambda `$1400 and C iv emission and narrow absorption in Si iv$`\lambda `$1400, C ii$`\lambda `$1335 and possibly O i$`\lambda `$1302. Morphologically it is unresolved, but was classified as a probable galaxy in the summit catalog.

##### 1447.051899

Morphologically this object is classified as a probable galaxy. It is very compact but resolved, so this is not a misclassification. There may be faint extended emission to the SE as well.

This object has three definite spectral features: a moderately broad line at 5448.7 Å, a broad line at 5042.2 Å, and an absorption trough at $``$4833.7 Å which reaches zero flux. This trough may be associated with a fourth, less definite spectral feature: another moderately broad line at 4885.5 Å, or 4866.8 Å, if it and the trough are considered a P Cygni profile. No two of the observed features form an exact wavelength match to any pair of common transitions, making the spectrum quite mysterious.

The trough appears to consist of two absorption lines in the 1-D spectrum, but the evidence for this is weak in the 2-D spectrum, and the noise in the 1-D spectrum is such that the apparent bifurcation could be a fluctuation. If real, the wavelengths of the two lines (4823.8 & 4847.5 Å) are consistent with either Fe ii$`\lambda \lambda `$2249.88,2260.78 at $`z=1.14`$ or Fe ii$`\lambda \lambda `$2586.65,2600.17 at $`z=0.865`$. However, no other lines are identified at either of those redshifts. We cross-correlated this spectrum with the CNOC2 high-$`z`$ absorption-line template (see §6) and found $`R_{cor}1`$ for both possible Fe ii identifications, indicating no significant cross-correlation peak at those redshifts.

The object’s red $`BV`$ color suggests that the trough is Ly$`\alpha `$, although the Lyman decrement does not seem as strong as might be expected and the object has a noticeably redder spectral index than the other $`z>3`$ AGN in our sample (Figure 4). If we do assume $`z=3.08`$, the two definite lines are N v$`\lambda `$1240 and C ii$`\lambda `$1335, but O i$`\lambda `$1302 is missing, Si iv/O iv\] $`\lambda `$1400 is missing or weak, and Ly$`\alpha `$ must be masked by absorption with a complex velocity profile and partial coverage of the emission region(s). Missing Ly$`\alpha `$ has been seen before in MQS 1114–220 (Baker & Hunstead 1997; Baker et al. 1999), which has a somewhat similar spectrum if our identification is correct. Quasars with intrinsically extremely weak Ly$`\alpha `$ are known (McDowell et al. 1995; Fan & SDSS Collaboration 1999a), but other lines are similarly weak in those cases. Alternatively, we could be seeing the region around Mg ii in a Low-Ionization Broad Absorption Line quasar (LoBAL; see §1). Dust, Fe ii absorption, and/or Mg ii absorption would be required to explain the red $`BV`$ color, which would be unusual but not unique (Hall et al. 1997). If the trough is Mg ii absorption at $`z=0.74`$, the moderately broad line is O iii$`\lambda `$3133 but the broad line is unidentified (at 2900 Å rest). Thus we consider this identification unlikely, although cross-correlation with the composite Large Bright Quasar Survey spectrum (LBQS; Francis et al. 1991) yielded its highest value, $`R_{cor}`$=3.32, at $`z`$=0.7457$`\pm `$0.0006. If the broad line is Mg ii at $`z=0.80`$, the moderately broad line is unidentified but the trough could be Mg ii blueshifted by 12,000 km s-1. If the moderately broad line is Mg ii at $`z=0.95`$, the broad line could be Fe ii$`\lambda \lambda `$2600 Å in emission, and the absorption Fe ii$`\lambda \lambda `$2600 Å blueshifted by 15,000 km s-1. We believe this latter identification is unlikely, however, since Fe ii and Mg ii have nearly identical ionization levels (as do Fe iii and Mg iii) and thus should arise from the same region and should not have different FWHMs, as observed. Also, neither of these identifications would explain the possible P Cygni nature of the absorption trough. A third possibility is that the line and the absorption are both from C iv in an object at $`z1.275`$, in which case O iii\] $`\lambda `$1663 (but not He ii$`\lambda `$1640) is seen but considerable dust would have to be invoked to explain the red $`BV`$ color.

Given that thousands of galaxy spectra were obtained in CNOC2, we considered more unusual possibilities. We ruled out emission from a supernova since the spectrum does not match any of the optical spectra of SNe in Filippenko (1997) or any of the UV spectra of SNe in Capellaro et al. (1995). We also ruled out the object’s being a comet, since it did not move between two images taken a year apart. Our direct images rule out two superimposed broad-line objects, but not the possibility of one broad-line object lensing another. However, as mentioned above, no two of the observed features exactly match any common pair of emission lines, which would be expected in the lensing scenario.

We have tentatively adopted $`z=3.08`$ since it seems the least unlikely redshift. We note that Hatziminaoglou et al. (2000) calculate a photometric redshift $`z_{phot}3.71`$ for this object, consistent with $`z=3.08`$ given their observed dispersion in $`z_{phot}`$ vs. $`z_{spec}`$ for the CNOC2 AGN with firm redshifts.

##### 2148.112371

The redshift of this $`z=3.157`$ object comes from Ly$`\alpha `$ and N v emission. No O i$`\lambda `$1302 emission is detected and C ii$`\lambda `$1335 and Si iv/O iv\] $`\lambda `$1400 fall atop the 5577 Å and 5892 Å night sky lines, respectively. This unresolved object was added to its spectroscopic mask by hand to fill an empty area.

##### 1447.020157

This $`z=3.17`$ object shows Ly$`\alpha `$ and probable weak Si iv/O iv\] $`\lambda `$1400 emission plus Ly$`\alpha `$ forest absorption which causes a change in the continuum slope across the line. There are also two narrow absorption lines at $``$5442 Å and $``$5759 Å observed which are obvious in the 2-D spectroscopic images as well as the 1-D spectrum. Morphologically the object is unresolved and unremarkable.

##### 2148.171412

The redshift of this $`z=3.19543`$ object comes from strong, narrow Ly$`\alpha `$ emission and a shoulder of N v emission. The redshift is corroborated by the change in the continuum slope across the line due to Ly$`\alpha `$ forest absorption, and by the object’s broadband colors. No O i$`\lambda `$1302 emission is detected and C ii$`\lambda `$1335 and Si iv/O iv\] $`\lambda `$1400 fall atop the 5577 Å and 5892 Å night sky lines, respectively. The equivalent width for the latter line was measured from the unweighted extraction, which is not interpolated across these lines. This compact object falls partially atop a bleeding column from a nearby bright star in the $`R`$ image, but it is classified as a galaxy in the $`g`$ image, so we consider the classification secure.

##### 0223.151510

This $`z=3.5`$ object shows Ly$`\alpha `$ and N v emission. Flux is seen redward but not blueward of the line in the 2-D spectroscopic images, but the SNR is not high enough to measure a flux decrement across the line with any accuracy. It is the easternmost member of a pair of compact objects, with a brighter and bluer neighbor located $``$1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$3 to the WNW as measured in the $`g`$ image, which has the best seeing. The objects were not separated by PPP and were classified as a single galaxy. The AGN is consistent with being unresolved, but the neighbor does appear resolved in the $`g`$ image at least. The neighbor is brighter than the AGN in the direct images but fainter in the 2-D spectroscopic images, possibly due to the slit positioning. No redshift was measured for the neighbor galaxy due to its very faint spectrum.

##### 0223.010767

This $`z=4.00`$ object shows Ly$`\beta `$+O vi, Ly$`\alpha `$, and N v emission, plus absorption from the Lyman forest blueward of Ly$`\alpha `$. This object is morphologically classified as a probable galaxy, possibly due to confusion from a galaxy of unknown redshift (0223.010775) located 2$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$5 N of this object. The object is consistent with being unresolved (the $`R`$ image has a slightly elongated PSF due to poor focusing).

##### 0223.011745

The one broad line visible in this object’s spectrum is identified as Ly$`\beta `$+O vi at $`z=4.67`$ for several reasons. There is an absorption system just blueward of the line for which matching Ly$`\gamma `$ is seen. The spectrum is consistent within the flux calibration uncertainties with no flux below 5000 Å, which can be explained by a Lyman limit system at $`z=4.48`$. There are also numerous absorption features present all the way from 5000 to 6300 Å, consistent with the Ly$`\alpha `$ forest. Last but not least, the object’s $`BR`$ color is very red (§7.2), much redder than normal stars or galaxies but exactly as expected for a $`z>4`$ quasar. The equivalent width of the line is high for Ly$`\beta `$+O vi but would be low for Ly$`\alpha `$. Also, if the emission line is Ly$`\alpha `$ at $`z=3.79`$, it is difficult to explain the lack of appreciable $`B`$-band flux in the spectrum or photometry. Nonetheless, a spectrum extending farther to the red is needed to confirm our assumed redshift, which is the highest in the sample. Morphologically the object is classified as stellar in the final catalog, but it was targeted for spectroscopy because it was classified as a probable galaxy in the summit catalog due to the image being slightly out of focus at this location on the CCD. There is a $`z=0.45777`$ galaxy 3″ to the SE (0223.011732).

## 5 \[Ne v\] AGN

Given the 97.02 eV ionization potential of \[Ne v\], the presence of \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426 or \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3346 emission should be a robust signature of AGN for objects where Mg ii is absent or not observable. \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3346 arises from the same excited level as \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426 but with a relative intensity of 0.359 (Rowlands et al. 1993). A \[Ne v\]-selected AGN sample should also suffer little contamination: Baldwin et al. (1981) found that no \[H ii\] region in their large literature sample showed detectable \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426, and Storchi-Bergmann et al. (1995) detected \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426 only among the Seyfert 2 galaxies in their sample of low-redshift Seyfert 2 and star-forming galaxies. In our sample, \[Ne v\] emission is seen along with broad Mg ii$`\lambda `$2798 in 2148.102026, 0920.182673, and possibly 2148.151660 and is detected in eight other objects as detailed below.

To establish the sensitivity of our spectra to \[Ne v\] emission, we force-fitted an unresolved Gaussian at the position of \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426 to the spectrum of each of the $``$4000 $`z>0.281`$ objects in which \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426 falls within our wavelength coverage. The resulting distribution of equivalent widths reflects the noise in our spectra at rest-frame 3426 Å. The \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426 line with the smallest observed rest-frame equivalent width ($`W_\lambda `$) would have been detectable in only 31% of $`z>0.281`$ objects, while the \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426 line with the largest observed $`W_\lambda `$ would have been detectable in 93%. The average \[Ne v\] detectability, as measured by our detections, is 71$`\pm `$20%.

### 5.1 Notes on Individual \[Ne v\] AGN

##### 2148.170418

This $`z=0.32`$ object shows \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426, \[O ii\] and \[Ne iii\] $`\lambda `$3869 emission plus Ca H+K, CN, and Balmer absorption lines from H$`\delta `$ to H10 (H$`\gamma `$ appears to be in emission, albeit at the noisy red end of the spectrum). Morphologically the object appears resolved, but the PSF is rather poor.

##### 0223.040997

This $`z=0.39868`$ object shows \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3346, \[O ii\] and \[Ne iii\] $`\lambda `$3869 emission, plus Ca H+K and CN absorption. Morphologically, this object is clearly resolved. It has a diffuse blue $`z=0.39897`$ emission-line companion (0223.040989) 2$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$1 to the S and a very faint extension or neighbor slightly W of N.

##### 1447.150676

This $`z=0.47`$ object shows \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426, \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3346, \[O ii\] and \[Ne iii\] $`\lambda `$3869 emission, plus Ca K absorption. Morphologically, the object is resolved and has an absorption-line companion (1447.150680) at $`z=0.46692`$ 4$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$5 to the ENE.

##### 1447.080513

This $`z=0.48`$ object shows \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426, \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3346, \[O ii\] and \[Ne iii\] $`\lambda `$3869 emission plus Ca H+K, CN, and H$`\delta `$ absorption. A zeroth-order region in the blue has been interpolated over, and there is a spurious line in the extreme blue. Morphologically, this object is compact but resolved.

##### 1447.140343

This $`z=0.51`$ object shows \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426, \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3346, \[O ii\] and \[Ne iii\] $`\lambda `$3869 emission (the latter two of which overlap excised night sky line regions) plus Ca H and possibly CN and H$`\delta `$ absorption (Ca K lies atop a night sky line). Morphologically, this galaxy is compact but resolved and extended E-W.

##### 0223.130940

The object appears unresolved in the direct images and is classified as an AGN based on the presence of \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426. The redshift of 0.53942 is from cross-correlation with the emission-line template, and is based primarily on narrow \[O ii\] emission and Ca K absorption, although \[Ne iii\] $`\lambda `$3869 is also present. CN absorption falls atop the 5892 Å night sky line and Ca H absorption is absent. However, there is a suggestion of emission from H$`\zeta `$ or He i 3889 Å which might suggest that Ca H is filled in by H$`ϵ`$ emission. With this redshift, the moderately broad O iii$`\lambda `$3133 and \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426 lines and the narrow \[Ne iii\] $`\lambda `$3869 line appear blueshifted by $``$370$`\pm `$120 km s-1. This object also exhibits broad O iii$`\lambda `$3133 absorption. This is to our knowledge the first recognized case of such absorption. However, it may also be present in the spectra of the LoBAL quasar PG 1700+518 presented by Pettini & Boksenberg (1985) and Ogle et al. (1999), although it is difficult to separate from Fe ii emission at $`<`$3000 Å and at 3130–3320 Å. O iii$`\lambda `$3133 does satisfy the criterion for a transition to show broad absorption outlined in Eq. 1 of Korista et al. (1992). One lingering concern with our adopted redshift is that \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3346 is not seen at the expected level, a nondetection significant at $`7\sigma `$ given the observed noise level. However, \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426 appears stronger in the 1-D spectrum than in the 2-D spectral images, so if it is spuriously strong in the 1-D spectrum then the limit on the \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3346 emission might be consistent with the expected ratio of 0.359. Alternatively, the detailed continuum shape could conceivably conspire to help hide the \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3346 emission. Another concern with the redshift is that there is a possible unidentified weak emission line at 3657 Å rest (5630 Å observed), but it is not obvious in the 2-D image so it may be spurious.

This object has been imaged in an ongoing HST WFPC2 $`F814W`$ band survey of CNOC2 galaxy pairs (Patton et al. 2000). It appears as a bulge-dominated galaxy with a nuclear point source, consistent with the presence of an AGN. However, a cuspy bulge rather than a nuclear point source cannot be ruled out without detailed modeling.

##### 0920.161307

This $`z=0.56147`$ object shows \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3346, \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426, \[O ii\] $`\lambda `$3727, \[Ne iii\] $`\lambda `$3869 and possibly O iii$`\lambda `$3133 emission, plus Ca K absorption. Morphologically, it is compact but resolved and has an extension or close neighbor to the SW. CFH12k $`Rz^{}`$ imaging (§4) also reveals faint, diffuse emission to the SE of both objects,

##### 0920.020116

This $`z=0.56225`$ object shows narrow \[O ii\] $`\lambda `$3727, \[Ne iii\] $`\lambda `$3869, \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426 and possibly O iii$`\lambda `$3133 emission. \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3346 is not seen at the expected level, but the nondetection is consistent with the noise level. There is also a poorly interpolated zeroth-order region in the blue. Morphologically it is a resolved but compact, high surface brightness galaxy on both MOS and CFH12k imaging (§4).

## 6 Absorption-Line AGN Candidates

Some AGN are known to show strong absorption and little or no line emission in the rest-frame UV (Smith et al. 1995; Egami et al. 1996; Becker et al. 1997). The CNOC2 spectra can detect absorption-line AGN at $`0.58<z<1.24`$ via Mg ii$`\lambda `$2798, at $`0.70<z<1.41`$ via Fe ii$`\lambda \lambda `$2600 and at $`0.89<z<1.67`$ via Fe ii$`\lambda `$2344 (see §6.1 for the definition of this line notation).

Visual inspection yielded twelve candidate absorption-line AGN. Cross-correlation allows a better estimate of the robustness and completeness of the detections, but we could find no template in the literature which matched these objects’ spectra and had acceptable SNR. Thus we constructed a template high-$`z`$ absorption-line spectrum using the six candidates judged to be the most reliable visual detections ($`R_{cor}5`$ in Table 3). Each spectrum was shifted to its rest frame, linearly interpolated to a common wavelength scale, normalized by a single third order spline fit to the entire spectrum after a maximum of 10 iterations of $`\pm `$2$`\sigma `$ pixel rejection, and scaled to unity in the common wavelength range 2525–2702 Å (excluding 2575–2610 Å). The spectra were averaged at all wavelengths where at least two objects overlapped and again normalized by a single third order spline. New redshifts were calculated for the input spectra and the procedure was repeated twice to produce the final high-$`z`$ absorption-line template. All $``$4500 unclassified, mostly very low SNR CNOC2 spectra and all visually selected absorption-line AGN were cross-correlated with this template. By inspecting the 5% of objects with the highest $`R_{cor}`$ ($`R_{cor}3.15`$), we recovered all but the weakest visually selected absorption-line candidate and added four new objects (0920.060299, 0920.110823, 1447.020849 and 1447.111559), for a total of fifteen candidate absorption-line AGN at $`0.73<z<1.33`$. To be sure we were not missing any $`z>1.33`$ absorption line AGN candidates, or misidentifying such objects as lower-$`z`$ objects, we used the lensed $`z=2.72`$ galaxy MS 1512–cB58 (Yee et al. 1996a; Pettini et al. 2000) as a template for cross-correlation of all candidate $`z<1.33`$ absorption-line AGN and all unclassified but high SNR CNOC2 spectra. No additional candidates with $`R_{cor}3.15`$ were identified, and none of the candidate absorption-line AGN had higher $`R_{cor}`$ values when cross-correlated with this template.

Only one of these candidate absorption line AGN (2148.050488) has been confirmed as a broad-line AGN via IR spectroscopy (§6.2). The rest remain only candidates (see §7.1), since 3–8% of CNOC2 galaxies at $`z>0.58`$ show Mg ii$`\lambda `$2798 absorption and since lines of the observed strengths can be produced in starburst galaxies (Storchi-Bergmann et al. 1995), as discussed in some detail by Postman et al. (1998).

### 6.1 Notes on Individual Absorption-Line AGN Candidates

In the following notes Mg ii denotes lines at 2796.35 and 2803.53 Å, Fe ii 2255 lines at 2249.88 and 2260.78 Å, Fe ii 2380 lines at 2374.46 and 2382.77 Å, and Fe ii 2600 lines at 2586.65 and 2600.17 Å (possibly confused with Mn ii lines at 2576.88, 2594.50 and 2606.46 Å).

##### 0920.110823

This $`z=0.73337`$ object shows Fe ii 2600 and Mg ii absorption. Morphologically it is compact but extended and has a neighbor (110820) 1$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$5 S of E.

##### 2148.162196

This $`z=0.74842`$ object shows Fe ii 2600 and Mg ii absorption. The apparent emission just redward of the 5577 Å night sky line is spurious, and no other absorption lines are seen in both independent spectra of the object. Morphologically the object is asymmetrical and slightly elongated.

##### 2148.150370

This $`z=0.75621`$ object shows Fe ii 2600, metastable Fe ii* $`\lambda `$2747 and Mg ii absorption. The apparent broad emission surrounding the Fe ii 2600 emission is spurious. Morphologically the object consists of a nucleus in a relatively large elliptical halo, and it has a very faint close neighbor (2148.150382).

##### 0920.060299

This $`z=0.79999`$ object shows very narrow Mg ii and possibly Fe ii 2600 Å absorption. Morphologically it is clearly resolved, with an extension to the W reminiscent of a spiral arm or possibly a tidal tail.

##### 0223.190667

This $`z=0.847`$ object shows Mg ii and Fe ii 2600 Å absorption. Morphologically it is clearly a galaxy with an extension or neighbor to the NW.

##### 2148.121113

This $`z=0.88595`$ object shows Mg ii and weak Fe ii 2600 absorption. Morphologically the object is clearly resolved.

##### 0920.101758

This $`z=0.89979`$ object shows Mg ii and Fe ii 2344, 2380, and 2600 Å absorption. Morphologically it is a compact galaxy extended in the E-W direction.

##### 2148.130511

This $`z=0.91352`$ object shows Mg ii and Fe ii 2380 and 2600 absorption, and possibly Fe ii 2600 emission with a P Cygni profile. Morphologically the object is clearly resolved and slightly asymmetrical, and there is a red galaxy (2148.130526) located several arcseconds to the north.

##### 1447.140898

This $`z=1.01769`$ object shows Mg ii and Fe ii 2344, 2380 and 2600 Å absorption. It has a very blue continuum which suggests it is an AGN rather than a starburst galaxy. However, the direct images show a compact but extended, elongated galaxy with a very close faint neighbor.

##### 0223.071845

This $`z=1.06096`$ object shows Mg ii and Fe ii 2344, 2380 and 2600 Å absorption, as well as numerous possible unidentified lines blueward of Fe ii 2344 Å. The object has a blue continuum and tentative narrow Mg ii and Fe ii 2600 Å emission, which suggests it is an AGN. Morphologically the object is compact but resolved, with a galaxy of unknown redshift (0223.071841) located 4$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$2 slightly S of W.

##### 1447.150061

This $`z=1.07162`$ object shows Mg ii and Fe ii 2344 and 2600 Å absorption. The emission observed at 5725 Å is spurious. This unresolved object was added to its spectroscopic mask by hand to fill an empty area.

##### 1447.020849

This $`z=1.07458`$ object shows Mg ii and Fe ii 2255, 2344, 2380 and 2600 Å absorption. Morphologically the object is compact but resolved, with a faint uncatalogued neighbor located a few arcseconds slightly N of W.

##### 1447.091045

This $`z=1.11503`$ object shows Fe ii 2344, 2380 and 2600 Å absorption. On the direct images the object is compact but resolved, possibly a double with a small neighbor to the W.

##### 1447.111559

This $`z=1.17736`$ object shows Mg ii and Fe ii 2344, 2380 and 2600 Å absorption. Morphologically the object is compact but resolved, with a faint neighbor (1447.111562) located 2$`\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}`$5 slightly N of E.

##### 2148.050488

This object shows strong Fe ii 2344, 2380 absorption at $`z=1.32701`$ and possible C iii\] $`\lambda `$1909 emission at the extreme blue end of the spectrum. We consider it our only confirmed absorption-line AGN, as an infrared spectrum reveals broad H$`\alpha `$ emission (see §6.2). In the direct images the object is unresolved but has a close neighbor (2148.050494).

### 6.2 Infrared Spectroscopy of 2148.050488

The CNOC2 absorption-line AGN candidate 2148.050488 was observed by R. Elston on UT 1997 September 13 with the CTIO 4m and Infra-Red Spectrograph (Depoy et al. 1990). In cross-dispersed mode, IRS uses a 256x256 InSb array to obtain a spectrum with resolution $`R`$=560 from 0.96–2.4 µm in a single exposure. Twenty-two 200-second exposures were obtained, and standard observing and reduction procedures were used to produce the final spectrum, part of which is shown in Figure 7. H$`\alpha `$ is clearly detected, with FWHM$``$1.16 104 km s-1 and FWZI$``$3.0 104 km s-1, broader than average for AGN but within the observed range (Peterson 1997). \[O iii\] $`\lambda \lambda `$4959,5007, H$`\beta `$, and possibly H$`\gamma `$ are also detected. The \[O iii\] redshift is 1.328$`\pm `$0.001. Relative to this systemic $`z`$, the Fe ii absorption in the discovery spectrum ($`z`$=1.32701$`\pm `$0.00013) is blueshifted by –220$`\pm `$300 km s-1, and H$`\alpha `$ is blueshifted by –980$`\pm `$330 km s-1. This is an extreme but not unprecendented blueshift for H$`\alpha `$ (McIntosh et al. 1999).

The procedure outlined in §7.6 was used to find the $`W_\lambda `$ for each line in the IR spectrum.333This procedure uses wavelength ranges defined for each line in the average LBQS spectrum (Francis et al. 1991). The wavelength range for H$`\beta `$ includes \[O iii\] $`\lambda \lambda `$4959,5007, so the final $`W_\lambda `$(H$`\beta `$) is the raw measurement minus $`W_\lambda `$(\[O iii\]). The LBQS did not observe H$`\alpha `$, so for it we used a wavelength range corresponding to the velocity range used for H$`\beta `$.  The results are given in Table 3. The Balmer decrement in 2148.050488 is 3.34$`\pm `$0.81, consistent with the range of 4$``$6 seen in typical quasars (Peterson 1997) and much smaller than the values of 10$``$13 found for the narrow-absorption-line AGN Hawaii 167 and Q 0059-2735 by Egami et al. (1996). H$`\beta `$ appears to have a smaller FWHM than H$`\alpha `$, which would mean that the Balmer decrement increases away from the line center, the opposite of what is usually seen. A spectrum with higher SNR than ours is required to confirm this.

The broad H$`\alpha `$ line confirms 2148.050488 as a broad emission line AGN, albeit with an unusually large blueshift and FWHM for H$`\alpha `$, but the normal Balmer decrement shows that it is not an extremely reddened AGN. Optical spectra with wider wavelength coverage could determine if it is a BAL, a LoBAL, of a normal broad emission line AGN with strong associated absorption in Fe ii and perhaps other species.

## 7 Discussion

### 7.1 Morphologies

The CNOC2 AGN sample is the largest sample to date of distant AGN selected via medium-resolution optical spectroscopy, without reference to broadband color. The sample is thus limited primarily by magnitude and line detectability. The CNOC2 AGN sample is also unique in that only objects initially classified as galaxies or probable galaxies were targeted for spectroscopy, with the exception of three objects added by hand to fill empty areas on the masks (1447.081984, 1447.150061, and 2148.112371) and a handful of serendipitously observed unresolved objects. Thus this sample is not biased against objects with luminous host galaxies or with close neighbors, except for possible instances of extreme extinction in the latter case. The latter case means the sample is also not strongly biased against AGN with redder colors due to dust reddening by foreground neighbors. In this section we consider in more detail the morphologies of these AGN and the implications thereof.

Table 4 gives the PPP morphological class (Pcl) of each object. PPP automatically classifies objects as either galaxies (Pcl=1), probable galaxies (Pcl=2), stars (Pcl=3), or saturated stars (Pcl=4). Among the 46 emission line selected AGN, we find two definite (0223.151510, 0920.080251), two probable (0223.010767, 1447.162128), and four possible (0223.151505, 1447.161148, 1447.171440, 2148.102026) cases of classification errors where an unresolved object (star) was mistakenly classified as resolved (galaxy or probable galaxy) in the final catalog, or vice versa in one case. After correcting for definite and probable classification errors, the 46 emission line AGN are distributed among stars, probable galaxies, and galaxies in the ratio 1.4:1:1.15. However, the 15 absorption line objects are distributed among these categories in the ratio 1:1.5:5. This is consistent with the expected contamination of the absorption-line objects with star-forming galaxies (§6). Figure 8 shows the distribution of automated PPP morphological classifications with redshift. Objects with possible or probable errors are plotted with different line types. AGN can be unresolved at redshifts as low as $`z=0.5`$, but can also be resolved by PPP at redshifts as high as $`z3`$, even with coarse sampling of the subarcsecond to arcsecond PSF achieved at CFHT.

The resolved and unresolved CNOC2 AGN are expected to be representative samples of each of those AGN types. However, since spectra were obtained for many more resolved than unresolved objects, the fraction of resolved AGN in the CNOC2 sample is higher than among AGN as a whole (§7.5). This may mean that the sample is biased toward AGN with host galaxies more luminous than average for those AGN luminosities. To quantify such a bias would require targeted spectroscopy to assemble a large sample of AGN from the CNOC2 photometric catalog for comparison with this one. Finally, with only two definite cases of unresolved objects misclassified as resolved due to overlooked close neighbors, the CNOC2 AGN sample is probably not strongly affected by any biases introduced by such neighbor galaxies, except perhaps for microlensing by stars in their halos (Canizares 1981).

### 7.2 Broad-Band Colors and Color Selection

As discussed in §1, the efficiency of color selection of quasars is of interest in determining the true and relative space densities of all quasars and of various quasar subclasses. Thus in this section we compare the colors of the CNOC2 AGN with the Deep Multicolor Survey (DMS) quasar sample (Hall et al. 1996a, b, c; Kennefick et al. 1997; Osmer et al. 1998).

Figure 9 shows the $`UB`$ vs. $`BV`$ colors of the 59 CNOC2 AGN and AGN candidates with $`UBV`$ data (various symbols), the 53 color-selected DMS AGN (open squares), and all $`B21`$ objects in the CNOC2 photometric catalog (dots). The high galactic latitude stellar locus extending from F stars at (–0.2,0.4) to M stars at (1,1.6) is visible, along with the locus of galaxies located blueward of the stellar locus in $`UB`$ (at given $`BV`$) and redward of it in $`BV`$ (at given $`UB`$) due to the composite stellar populations of galaxies. The dotted line encloses the region occupied by the simulated $`z<3`$ quasars of Hall et al. (1996b). The thick solid and dashed lines show the bright and faint selection criteria of Hall et al. (1996b); objects blueward of the lines in $`BV`$ at $`B<21`$ and $`21<B<22`$, respectively, were selected as candidate $`z<3`$ quasars. The criteria do not reach as red in $`BV`$ at $`UB0.35`$ as at $`UB0.35`$ because of the need to avoid the stellar locus, and the criteria do not probe as close to the stellar locus at fainter magnitudes due to the spreading of the locus from photometric errors.

Figures 1011 and Figure 12 show similar color-color diagrams for use in selecting $`3z4`$ and $`z>4`$ quasars, respectively. The bright and faint selection criterion lines cross in the $`UV`$/$`VR`$ diagram (Figure 10) because the faint criteria were nearly reaching the limiting depth of the DMS $`U`$ data. Some adjustment to the DMS bright criteria in the $`BV`$/$`VR`$ diagram (Figure 11) is probably warranted to avoid probing too close to the locus of stars and galaxies in the CNOC2 colors. No DMS selection criteria are drawn in the $`BR`$/$`RI`$ diagram (Figure 12) because the DMS did not use a standard $`I`$ filter. A simple selection criterion for $`z>4`$ quasar candidates is $`BR>3.3`$, which recovers the $`z=4.67`$ object 0223.011745 with $`BR=4.6`$. Through extension to less red $`BR`$ but also blue $`RI`$ the selection becomes sensitive down to $`z3.3`$ and more efficient at $`z>4`$. For example, the $`z=4.00`$ object 0223.010767 at $`BR=3.1`$ would be recovered.

As a simple example of AGN color selection, we use the bright-magnitude selection criteria of Hall et al. (1996b). With these criteria, 42 of 59 CNOC2 AGN and AGN candidates with $`U`$ data would qualify as color-selected AGN candidates (71%). Two of the seventeen missed objects would be selected if the $`UB`$/$`BV`$ selection criterion extended just 0$`\stackrel{\mathrm{m}}{\mathrm{.}}`$1 redder in $`BV`$ at $`UB<0.3`$. Four others would be selected if they were required to be outliers in just the $`BV`$/$`VR`$ diagram rather than both it and the $`UV`$/$`VR`$ diagram. (The $`BV`$/$`VR`$ selection criteria of Hall et al. (1996b) probe too close to the stellar locus to be efficient, but the AGN in question are sufficiently far from the locus to be recovered using reasonable criteria.) With those revised criteria, 81$`\pm `$6% of the CNOC2 AGN would qualify as color-selected AGN candidates (48 of 59 with $`UBV`$ data). We have assumed that the spread in the stellar locus is negligible at the magnitudes of interest, so this will be an upper limit to the efficiency of color selection. Variability has not been accounted for either, but it should be a small effect since most images of a given CNOC2 field were taken within a few days of each other. Also, Warren et al. (1991) find that variability generally increases detection probabilities by moving more AGN out of the stellar locus than into it.

The eleven objects missed by the revised criteria are noted in Table 4. The objects include all the \[Ne v\] selected AGN except 0223.130940, which are all morphologically classified galaxies whose colors could be affected by host galaxy emission; the probable $`z=3.08`$ object 1447.051899, which has an unusual spectrum and unusual colors; the $`z=3.17`$ object 1447.020157, in the redshift range where color selection of quasars is difficult because of contamination by F stars; and two unresolved $`z0.65`$ objects with the two highest equivalent width Mg ii$`\lambda `$2798 lines in our sample (1447.170990 and 2148.102026), the latter of which is also a radio-loud AGN. The $`UB`$ colors of these two objects are unusually red for their observed redshifts, presumably due to strong Mg ii$`\lambda `$2798 emission in the observed $`B`$-band. However, their $`BV`$ colors are not unusually blue, so the objects were not selected in the $`UB`$/$`BV`$ diagram. These quasars’ spectra (which cover the $`B`$ and $`V`$ bands) do seem to show somewhat redder continua than typical quasars.

It is reassuring that color-selected surveys can recover $``$81$`\pm `$6% of the CNOC2 sample of non-color-selected AGN. This is consistent with the estimates of $``$81% completeness for the quasar sample of Zitelli et al. (1992) by Cimatti et al. (1993) and 77$`\pm `$11% completeness for the Koo & Kron (1988) quasar sample by Majewski et al. (1993), both from proper motion surveys in the fields of earlier color-selected surveys. Despite the relatively high completeness, it is of some concern that several of the most unusual CNOC2 AGN would be missed by the color selection discussed above. This includes most of the \[Ne v\]-selected AGN, which have redder colors than other AGN on average. This is probably due to greater host galaxy contamination since they have lower average redshifts and luminosities than the other AGN. However, it should be possible to increase the 81$`\pm `$6% completeness even further by selecting blue AGN candidates not just from the $`UB`$/$`BV`$ color-color diagram, since several of the missed objects stand out in at least one other diagram (Figures 1012), by selecting objects blueward of the stellar locus in the bluer color and redward of it in the redder color (e.g., to select the \[Ne v\] AGN in Figure 12), or by searching multidimensional color space directly rather than in two-dimensional projections.

We have neglected the morphological selection also used in the DMS to select quasar candidates (an object had to be classified unresolved in at least half the filters in which it was detected). However, resolved AGN account for only $``$20% of all AGN to $`R=22.09`$7.5). Thus AGN samples which exclude resolved objects at worst miss $``$20% of AGN.444This estimate is for AGN above a minimum luminosity of $`M_B=18.85`$, the luminosity of our faintest \[Ne v\] AGN. Fainter AGN are not detectable against the background of their host galaxies in the CNOC2 spectra. However, the actual situation is likely to be better. The DMS morphological selection criteria were designed to be lenient in their exclusion of galaxies, so that 33% of the $`R<23`$ unresolved objects in the DMS catalog are expected to be galaxies (Hall et al. 1996a, Table 3). CNOC2 has better star-galaxy separation than this, and would probably resolve many objects unresolved by the DMS and other surveys, heightening those surveys’ apparent incompleteness to resolved AGN.

Determining the fraction of non-AGN in the sample of AGN candidates which meet our color selection criteria is beyond the scope of this paper. However, we note that 20 of the 65 spectroscopically confirmed galaxies morphologically misclassified as unresolved would be selected as AGN candidates by our color selection criteria. Thus our color selection criteria do suffer some contamination by compact blue galaxies.

### 7.3 Broad Absorption Line AGN (BALs)

The canonical BAL fraction in quasar surveys is 10%. The fraction in the CNOC2 AGN is highly uncertain but consistent with this, given the small number statistics involved and the fact that most of our objects are at low redshift where only the rare LoBALs might be detectable. Our sample includes only one confirmed BAL (the LoBAL 0223.130940), but there is also a potential mini-BAL which appears to show narrow absorption from C ii$`\lambda `$1335 and Si iv$`\lambda `$1400 but not C iv$`\lambda `$1549 (0223.051932), one object with a deep absorption trough and unusual emission-line ratios which might be a BAL (1447.051899), and several candidate Iron LoBALs among the absorption-line AGN candidates: 2148.050488, which resembles FIRST J142703.6+270940, and 0223.071845, which resembles FIRST J084044.4+363328 (Becker et al. 2000).

### 7.4 Associated Absorption Lines

From six to nine of the 47 emission-line AGN in this sample show strong associated absorption within $`\pm `$5000 km s-1 of the emission line redshift (3–7 in Mg ii$`\lambda `$2798 and 2–4 in C iv$`\lambda `$1549, each number being independent except for one one-line object, 0223.021739, which is assumed to be Mg ii but could be C iv). Seven or eight objects have spectra that cover C iv$`\lambda `$1549, for an associated C iv$`\lambda `$1549 absorption fraction of between 29$`{}_{18}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+26}`$% and 50$`\pm `$22% (1$`\sigma `$). Small number statistics prevent any firm conclusion, but it is still instructive to compare this fraction to that observed in other quasar samples. Foltz et al. (1988) found strong (rest-frame equivalent width $`W_\lambda `$$`>`$1.5 Å) associated absorption in 22 of 88 radio-loud quasars (25%), but in only 1 of 29 radio-quiet quasars (3.4%), all at $`z>1.25`$. However, at $`z<1.1`$, Ganguly et al. (1999) found only one strong associated C iv$`\lambda `$1549 absorption system in a sample of 64 $`z<1.1`$ quasars (25 RQQs and 39 RLQs), possibly due to redshift evolution. Given the low luminosity of the CNOC2 AGN compared to the quasars in both those studies, our observations may be evidence in favor of the hypothesis of Moller et al. (1994) that associated C iv absorption is more common among less optically luminous quasars regardless of radio power (but for a dissenting opinion see Foltz et al. 1988). However, Ulrich (1988) found strong associated C iv or Mg ii absorption among only 2.5$``$9% of $`z0.1`$ Seyfert 1 galaxies with $`M_B`$ similar to or somewhat fainter than the CNOC2 AGN. This argues against a simple anticorrelation of the associated C iv absorption fraction with luminosity, and when compared with the CNOC2 AGN sample may argue in favor of its evolution with redshift. As this paper was going to press, we became aware of the preliminary results of a study of $``$30$`<`$$`M_B`$$`<`$$``$26 AGN in which both RLQs and RQQs are found to have associated C ivabsorption fractions of $``$33% (Vestergaard & Ho 2000). This is in better agreement with our results than with those of Foltz et al. (1988). More data is clearly needed.

From twelve to twenty-two objects have spectra that cover Mg ii$`\lambda `$2798, depending on the number of single emission line objects in which the line is Mg ii$`\lambda `$2798. Thus the frequency of associated Mg ii$`\lambda `$2798 absorption in the CNOC2 AGN is between 14$`{}_{7}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+12}`$% and 58$`{}_{18}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+17}`$% (1$`\sigma `$). For comparison, Aldcroft et al. (1994a) found six associated Mg ii absorption systems in a sample of 56 quasars (11$`{}_{4}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+6}`$%), which was itself an excess at the 97–99% confidence level compared to the frequency of intervening absorption systems. Thus the CNOC2 AGN sample is likely to have a higher incidence of associated Mg ii absorption than other samples.

If the line of sight required to produce associated low-ionization absorption is dusty, as has been seen in some other samples of AGN (Aldcroft et al. 1994b; Baker & Hunstead 1995; Wills & Hines 1997), the increased incidence of such absorption in the CNOC2 AGN compared to color-selected samples might be explained, since dust can more easily redden quasars out of the latter. The $`UB`$ and $`BV`$ colors of the CNOC2 AGN do extend to redder values than the DMS AGN (Figure 9), in support of this suggestion. However, CNOC2 AGN with known associated absorption are not on average redder than AGN without such absorption, nor are they preferentially missed by the color selection criteria discussed in §7.2. It is possible that associated Mg ii absorption is more common among less optically luminous AGN, similar to the suggestion of Moller & Jakobsen (1987) for associated C iv absorption, but the Ulrich (1988) sample argues against this possibility just as it does for C iv, as discussed above. Another possible explanation arises from the CNOC2 AGN sample’s lack of bias against objects with resolved spatial structure such as companions, tidal tails or large host galaxies. Such environments may be more likely to have extensive gas envelopes which show up as associated absorption. However, the fraction of resolved objects is $``$53% among those with associated absorption, consistent with the value of $``$60% for objects without associated absorption in the $`0.6<z<3`$ broad-line sample. Overall, it is not clear why the CNOC2 sample has a higher incidence of associated absorption than other quasar samples.

### 7.5 Detection Frequency and Surface Density of Low-Luminosity AGN

Broad-line and \[Ne v\] AGN are found in only a small fraction of galaxies. In the range $`0.281<z<0.685`$, where CNOC2 can detect both normal galaxies to $``$$`M^{}`$+1 (via \[O ii\] $`\lambda `$3727 at least) and AGN (via \[Ne v\] $`\lambda `$3426 or other broad lines), only 0.3$`\pm `$0.1% of galaxies have such AGN. This is consistent with the results of Schade et al. (1996), who found that only 0.5$`\pm `$0.3% of $`z1.35`$ CFRS galaxies were broad-line AGN. However, this is only a lower limit to the AGN fraction among such galaxies since it includes neither narrow-line AGN nor AGN too faint relative to their host galaxy for CNOC2 to detect them. Tresse et al. (1996) found that at least 8% of $`z0.3`$ field galaxies in the CFRS were narrow-line AGN (Seyfert 2s or LINERs), whose identification in CNOC2 is outside the scope of this paper.

The CNOC2 AGN can be used to estimate the surface density of faint AGN. We include only the one confirmed absorption-line AGN in these estimates. First we must weight to account for objects not observed or identified spectroscopically, using the fraction of AGN among observed objects. The maximum fraction of AGN should equal the fraction among objects with spectra good enough for classification. This includes spectra with high SNR but no identification, since in spectra of similar SNR it is easier to identify AGN than stars and many galaxies. The minimum fraction of AGN should equal the fraction among all objects with any spectra. This assumes that broad lines would have been identifiable in all spectra.

We weight each resolved AGN to account for the galaxies without redshifts at the same apparent magnitude (within $`\pm `$0$`\stackrel{\mathrm{m}}{\mathrm{.}}`$25) in the entire catalog. We weight the unresolved AGN to account for all unresolved objects in the CNOC2 catalog without redshifts which lie within a fixed apparent magnitude range. This is because to first approximation, the unresolved objects with spectra in CNOC2 constitute a fair, random sample of unresolved objects fainter than the brightest magnitude at which an unresolved object could be misclassified as resolved, and brighter than the faintest magnitude at which objects can be identified from CNOC2 spectra. (In reality, even “unresolved” AGN are likely to be more extended than stars and thus more susceptible to being misclassified as a galaxy and selected for spectroscopy. Our AGN surface density will be a firm upper limit since we neglect this effect.) We also use the average detectability of \[Ne v\] in our \[Ne v\] AGN (71$`\pm `$20%; see §5) to account for similar objects missed due to a low SNR. Finally, to find the surface density, we divide by the total area of CNOC2 (5433.5□′, or 1.5093□°). We do not account for the $`1.24z1.31`$ range where no emission line falls in our spectral range, so this will be a underestimate.

The surface density of resolved AGN is in the range 46$`{}_{}{}^{+15}{}_{8}{}^{}`$ deg-2 to 89$`{}_{}{}^{+29}{}_{16}{}^{}`$ deg-2 from 31 objects to $`R=22.09`$, the magnitude of the faintest resolved AGN. We estimate the bright magnitude limit for unresolved AGN to be $`R`$=19.5, since the magnitude distribution of unresolved objects with spectra shows a dramatic increase faintwards of $`R`$=19.5 and the brightest unresolved AGN has $`R`$=19.75. For ease of comparison with resolved AGN, we use a faint magnitude limit of $`R=22.09`$. This is reasonable since the magnitude distribution of unresolved objects with good spectra peaks at $`R`$=21 and includes only a few objects with $`R>22.09`$. There are 5949 unresolved objects in this magnitude range, of which 346 have spectra, 240 have spectra good enough for classification, and 17 are AGN (15 automatically classified as stars by PPP, plus 2 definitely misclassified as galaxies due to close neighbors). With additional weighting for \[Ne v\] detectability as discussed above, and including the $``$23 unresolved AGN deg-2 with $`R<19.5`$ (Hartwick & Schade 1990), we obtain a surface density in the range 221$`{}_{}{}^{+61}{}_{48}{}^{}`$ to 309$`{}_{}{}^{+87}{}_{69}{}^{}`$ unresolved AGN deg-2, for a total surface density in the range 267$`{}_{}{}^{+63}{}_{49}{}^{}`$ to 398$`{}_{}{}^{+92}{}_{73}{}^{}`$ AGN deg-2 to $`R=22.09`$.

For comparison with estimates in the literature, we also calculated our AGN surface density in the $`B`$-band using $`B`$ magnitude weights and adopting a bright magnitude limit of $`B=20.2`$ for unresolved objects. We find a total AGN surface density of 244$`{}_{}{}^{+65}{}_{50}{}^{}`$ deg-2 to 314$`{}_{}{}^{+87}{}_{67}{}^{}`$ deg-2 to $`B=22.6`$, compared to 233 deg-2 estimated to the same magnitude by Majewski et al. (1993) using a 0.3 deg2 color-selected survey augmented with proper motion and variability studies. We find a surface density of 197$`{}_{}{}^{+51}{}_{38}{}^{}`$ deg-2 to 269$`{}_{}{}^{+73}{}_{54}{}^{}`$ deg-2 for all $`z2.1`$ AGN to $`B=23.5`$, compared to 120$`{}_{}{}^{+120}{}_{70}{}^{}`$ deg-2 to 210$`{}_{}{}^{+140}{}_{90}{}^{}`$ deg-2 (depending on the color cut used to reject potential compact galaxies) estimated by Beck-Winchatz & Anderson (1999) from a 0.025 deg2 morphological- and color-selected HST survey. Our AGN surface density estimates are comparable to both these previous estimates, though all of them are still quite uncertain.

### 7.6 Equivalent Widths and the Baldwin Effect

In this section we discuss the emission-line rest-frame equivalent widths ($`W_\lambda `$) of the CNOC2 AGN compared to expectations based on previous studies of AGN.

The $`W_\lambda `$ values and associated uncertainties for all lines (Tables 1-3) were determined using the procedure of Green (1996), except that we neglect the random errors in our continuum fits, and using the wavelength ranges defined by Francis et al. (1991) for the composite LBQS spectrum. For each line, the continuum was modelled as a single cubic spline fit to the entire spectrum outside that line’s wavelength range, after a maximum of 10 iterations of $`\pm `$2$`\sigma `$ pixel rejection. The continuum determined in this manner was consistent within the uncertainties with the continuum determined from specific rest-frame regions around each line. (For AGN with Ly$`\alpha `$ emission, only wavelengths redward of the line were used in the fit, since Ly$`\alpha `$ forest absorption depresses the continuum blueward of the line. However, we do not correct for absorption atop the Ly$`\alpha `$ profile since such corrections would be highly uncertain.) Equivalent widths for features in absorption-line objects were found using the same procedure on wavelength windows extending 25 Å to either side of the line(s) being fitted in the rest frame of the AGN.

Figure 13 shows histograms of $`W_\lambda `$ for Ly$`\alpha `$ (including N v), C iv, C iii\] (including Al iii and Si iii\]) and Mg ii for the CNOC2 broad emission line selected AGN. Solid histograms are for lines confirmed to be the stated transition; dashed histograms for one-line objects where the line was assumed to be Mg ii but could be C iii\] (or C iv in one case), and dotted histograms for objects where the line was assumed to be C iii\] or Ly$`\alpha `$ but could be Mg ii. Our $`W_\lambda `$ measurements generally fall within the range seen in the literature (Zamorani et al. 1992; Hartwick & Schade 1990). Even the two objects with very high $`W_\lambda `$(Mg ii) emission lie within the range of previously observed values. However, our $`W_\lambda `$ distributions tend to be skewed lower than the average values predicted by previous studies of the Baldwin effect (the anticorrelation of $`W_\lambda `$ and luminosity; for a recent review see Osmer & Shields 1999). The solid points and error bars in Figure 13 show the mean $`W_\lambda `$ and $`\pm `$1$`\sigma `$ standard deviation in the $`W_\lambda `$ predicted for that line at the average luminosity of the quasars in each histogram. These predictions are taken from Zamorani et al. (1992) for Mg ii and Green (1996) for C iii\], C iv and Ly$`\alpha `$. In the following sections we discuss each of the transitions in Figure 13 in turn.

#### 7.6.1 The Baldwin Effect in Mg ii$`\lambda `$2798

We compare $`W_\lambda `$(Mg ii) for our $`0.6<z<1.2`$ AGN with the $`z<1.5`$ sample of Zamorani et al. (1992, hereafter Z92). We compute the monochromatic magnitudes $`M_{2798}`$ for our objects following Eq. 1 of Z92: $`M_\lambda =M_B2.5\alpha \mathrm{log}\left(\lambda /4400\right)`$, with continuum power-law slope $`\alpha =0.5`$. However, our $`M_B`$ were calculated using $`q_0=0.5`$ instead of $`q_0=1`$ and $`k`$-corrections appropriate for $`\alpha =0.7`$ (Cristiani & Vio 1990) instead of $`\alpha =0.5`$. The former results in negligible differences, while the latter biases our magnitudes fainter than those of Z92 by $``$0$`\stackrel{\mathrm{m}}{\mathrm{.}}`$15, again negligible since the Baldwin effect is not steeply magnitude dependent.

We identify nineteen objects with Mg ii emission, though the true number may be anywhere in the range 12 to 22 (some lines identified as Mg ii$`\lambda `$2798 may turn out to be C iii\] $`\lambda `$1909, and vice versa). These nineteen have average $`M_{2798}=21.5\pm 0.2`$, and average $`W_\lambda `$(Mg ii)=49$`\pm `$10 Å (in all our $`W_\lambda `$ discussions our quoted uncertainties are $`1\sigma `$ standard deviations of the mean). The $`W_\lambda `$(Mg ii) predicted by Z92 at this $`M_{2798}`$ is 38$`{}_{}{}^{+11}{}_{5}{}^{}`$ Å. Even in the extreme cases of 12 or 22 Mg ii identifications, our average $`W_\lambda `$(Mg ii) agrees with the Z92 prediction to within $`1\sigma `$. Thus the Mg ii Baldwin effect in the $`0.6<z<1.2`$ CNOC2 AGN is consistent with the Mg ii Baldwin effect measured by Z92 for $`z<1.5`$ AGN.

#### 7.6.2 The Baldwin Effect in C iii\] $`\lambda `$1909

We compare $`W_\lambda `$(C iii\]+Al iii+Si iii\]), hereafter simply $`W_\lambda `$(C iii\]), for our $`1.35<z<2.2`$ AGN with the sample of Green (1996, hereafter G96), in which $`W_\lambda `$(C iii\]) are available only for $`z<0.7`$ objects.

For this comparison we require the monochromatic luminosity density at rest-frame 1450 Å, $`L_\nu `$(1450 Å), called $`l_{UV}`$ by G96. We calculate $`L_\nu `$(1450 Å) for the CNOC2 AGN from our broadband photometry even when our spectra cover 1450 Å in the rest frame because our observing procedures are not designed to yield accurate spectrophotometry. We convert the $`U`$ and $`B`$ magnitudes to monochromatic flux densities at their effective wavelengths (Fukugita et al. 1995) and interpolate to find $`f_\nu `$ at rest wavelength 1450 Å, from which we calculate $`L_\nu `$(1450 Å).

We identify nine objects with C iii\] emission (though the true number may be anywhere in the range 7–16), with average $`L_\nu `$(1450 Å)$`=8.4\pm 0.610^{29}`$ ergs s-1 Hz-1 and average $`W_\lambda `$(C iii\])=35$`\pm `$6 Å. The $`W_\lambda `$(C iii\]) predicted by G96 at this $`L_\nu `$(1450 Å) is 35$`\pm `$2 Å. Thus our average $`W_\lambda `$(C iii\]) agrees with the prediction of G96, as illustrated in Figures 13 and 14. This agreement would remain even if all possible C iii\] identifications turned out to be C iii\]. However, Figure 14 shows that the majority of the CNOC2 AGN would lie below the $`W_\lambda `$(C iii\]) relation found by G96 in that case. Also lying predominantly below the relation are three $`1<z<2`$ AGN from the Canada-France Redshift Survey (CFRS; Schade et al. 1996, open triangles) and $``$250 $`1.35<z<2.2`$ AGN from the LBQS (Francis et al. 1992, small dark points). The combined CNOC2, LBQS and CFRS data appear to have a C iii\] Baldwin effect with a somewhat lower normalization than the G96 sample. The offset is not formally statistically significant, however, and is small enough that it could conceivably be caused by systematic differences in $`W_\lambda `$ measurement procedures.

#### 7.6.3 The Baldwin Effect in C iv$`\lambda `$1549

We first compare $`W_\lambda `$(C iv) for our $`1.9<z<2.55`$ AGN with the C iv Baldwin effect measured at $`z<1.1`$ by G96 using $`L_\nu `$(1450 Å) (see §7.6.2). There are seven objects with C iv in the CNOC2 spectra (and possibly an eighth, 0223.021739), with average $`L_\nu `$(1450 Å)$`=1.2\pm 0.210^{30}`$ ergs s-1 Hz-1 and average $`W_\lambda `$(C iv)=33$`\pm `$6 Å. The $`W_\lambda `$(C iv) predicted by G96 at this $`L_\nu `$(1450 Å) is 51$`{}_{4}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+5}`$ Å. Thus our average $`W_\lambda `$(C iv) is lower than the prediction of G96 at $`2.5\sigma `$ significance, as illustrated in Figure 13 and Figure 15.

However, the G96 sample measures C iv only at $`z<1.1`$, whereas the CNOC2 AGN with measured C iv have $`1.9<z<2.55`$. To examine the possibility of redshift dependence, in Figure 15 we compare to the $`1.8<z<2.2`$ sample of Osmer et al. (1994, hereafter OPG94) and to LBQS AGN with $`1.8<z<2.55`$ (Francis et al. 1992). Together these samples show evidence for a shallower C iv Baldwin effect at $`1.8<z<2.55`$ than at $`z<1.1`$. Some of the LBQS AGN with the smallest $`W_\lambda `$(C iv) are likely affected by broad absorption lines, but this would not affect the above conclusion. The open triangles in Figure 15 show that the lower than expected $`W_\lambda `$(C iv) values for low-luminosity AGN found in CNOC2 are supported by measurements of one $`z2`$ AGN from the CFRS (Schade et al. 1996), but that a $`z3.4`$ AGN from the HDF (Barger et al. 1999; Cohen et al. 2000) shows a high $`W_\lambda `$(C iv).

#### 7.6.4 The Baldwin Effect in Ly$`\alpha `$$`\lambda `$1216+N v$`\lambda `$1240

We first compare $`W_\lambda `$(Ly$`\alpha `$+N v), hereafter simply $`W_\lambda `$(Ly$`\alpha `$), for our 3$`<`$$`z`$$`<`$4 AGN with the Ly$`\alpha `$ Baldwin effect measured at $`z<1.6`$ by G96 using $`L_\nu `$(1450 Å) (see §7.6.2). There are five objects with Ly$`\alpha `$ in the CNOC2 spectra (and possibly a sixth, 1447.051899), with average $`L_\nu `$(1450 Å)$`=1.6\pm 0.410^{30}`$ ergs s-1 Hz-1 and average $`W_\lambda `$(Ly$`\alpha `$)=63$`\pm `$6 Å. The $`W_\lambda `$(Ly$`\alpha `$) predicted by G96 at this $`L_\nu `$(1450 Å) is 77$`{}_{7}{}^{}{}_{}{}^{+8}`$ Å. Four of our five objects have $`W_\lambda `$(Ly$`\alpha `$) below this predicted average (on average they are a factor of 1.3$`\pm `$0.1 low), although our average $`W_\lambda `$(Ly$`\alpha `$) is consistent with the predictions at the $`1.5\sigma `$ level due to the large uncertainties.

However, the G96 sample measures Ly$`\alpha `$ only at $`z<1.6`$, whereas the CNOC2 AGN with measured Ly$`\alpha `$ have $`3<z<4`$. To examine the possibility of redshift dependence, we compare the CNOC2 AGN to the $`z3`$ sample of OPG94 in Figure 16 and find no evidence for a Baldwin effect in Ly$`\alpha `$ at $`z34`$. The typical $`W_\lambda `$(Ly$`\alpha `$) is instead roughly constant from the brightest LBQS AGN down to a very faint $`z3.4`$ AGN from the HDF (Barger et al. 1999; Cohen et al. 2000, open triangle). This stands in contrast to the $`z<1.6`$ sample of G96 and the $`z<1`$ IUE sample of OPG94. However, Schneider et al. (1991) noted that the $`W_\lambda `$(C iv) of their sample of $`z>4`$ quasars with $`L_\nu `$(1450)$``$1030.5-31 fell below the predicted Baldwin effect by a factor $`1.4`$. Moreover, a comparison of composite $`z2`$ spectra from Boyle (1990) and the LBQS also showed no appreciable Ly$`\alpha `$ Baldwin effect (Francis & Koratkar 1995, their Figures 5 and 6).

#### 7.6.5 The Baldwin Effect: Discussion

Broad-line AGN have quite similar spectra over a range of $``$106 in luminosity, implying that the broad-line region parameters which determine the emergent spectra scale nearly uniformly with luminosity. A Baldwin effect for a given line means that this scaling is not exactly homologous for that line. The lower than expected average $`W_\lambda `$ of CNOC2 AGN broad emission lines suggests that the normalization of the Baldwin effect may be lower in C iii\] than in some previous studies, and that the slope of the Baldwin effect in Ly$`\alpha `$ and C iv may evolve with redshift, steepening with cosmic time. These differences are too large to be explained by systematic errors in our absolute magnitude or luminosity determinations, due to the relatively shallow slope of the Baldwin effect. Variability effects should also be negligible since most images and spectra in a given CNOC2 field were taken within a few days of each other. Associated absorption may be present in up to $``$50% of the Mg ii and C iv lines in these AGN (§7.4), but it is not strong enough to significantly affect the $`W_\lambda `$ distributions of these lines. The strongest such absorption, in 0920.092046, does reduce its $`W_\lambda `$(C iv) by almost 50%, but the average $`W_\lambda `$ reduction due to associated absorption is $``$10% in C iv and $``$5% in Mg ii. For Ly$`\alpha `$, we do not correct for associated or Ly$`\alpha `$ forest absorption atop the emission line, but neither do OPG94; so, this should not bias our comparison.

Probably the most important caveat is the unknown effect of the different selection criteria and $`W_\lambda `$ measurement techniques of the various samples on the measured Baldwin effect. For example, the OPG94 $`z>3`$ sample consists mainly of objects discovered via slitless spectroscopy, and thus might be biased against weak-lined AGN. The OPG94 $`z>3`$ AGN do have higher $`W_\lambda `$(Ly$`\alpha `$) at $`L_\nu `$(1450 Å)=1031-32 than the G96 $`z<1.6`$ AGN (Figure 16), which could arise from this possible bias or from different $`W_\lambda `$ measurement techniques. In principle, CNOC2 might be more sensitive to weak-lined AGN that other surveys due to its lack of strong selection criteria. If true, this would mean that other surveys overestimate the average $`W_\lambda `$ at all luminosities, and our lower average $`W_\lambda `$ are simply a better estimate of the true average $`W_\lambda `$. However, Figs. 14-15 show that the G96, LBQS, and OPG94 samples all include objects with C iii\] or C iv lines as weak as in CNOC2 (the same is true for the Z92 sample and Mg ii). The detection of some weak-lined objects in these samples argues against their having a strong bias against such objects. However, Fig. 16 suggests that such a bias may exist for Ly$`\alpha `$ in the OPG94 sample.

Another worry is whether other parameters might systematically bias the observed Baldwin relation in a given sample. Wilkes et al. (1999) see a C iv Baldwin effect in their $`z<1`$ sample only if they exclude narrow-line Seyfert 1 objects, which have narrow H$`\beta `$ lines and systematically weak $`W_\lambda `$(C iv), effectively flattening the slope at low luminosity. If any of the CNOC2 AGN fall into this category, it might explain their low $`W_\lambda `$(C iv) but not their low $`W_\lambda `$(Ly$`\alpha `$).

Redshift evolution of the Baldwin effect has rarely been discussed in the literature, since very few line measurements for low-luminosity AGN at $`z1`$ are available. At the low luminosities of the CNOC2 AGN, the Ly$`\alpha `$ Baldwin effect has only been previously studied at $`z0.5`$ (Osmer et al. 1994; Green 1996; Wilkes et al. 1999). The CNOC2 AGN provide some of the first evidence that the slope of the Baldwin effect may evolve to steeper values with cosmic time in Ly$`\alpha `$ and C iv, although some evidence of this effect is present in Schneider et al. (1991) and Francis & Koratkar (1995).

A currently favored model explains the Baldwin effect as a result of the luminosity dependence of AGN continuum spectral energy distributions or SEDs (Malkan & Sargent 1982; Osmer & Shields 1999), wherein more luminous AGN have softer ionizing continua. Evolution in the Baldwin effect might indicate evolution with cosmic time of AGN SEDs at a given luminosity, which might arise from evolution in the relation between AGN luminosity and black hole mass (Wandel 1999). However, an earlier model for the C iv Baldwin effect which postulated a smaller ionization parameter $`U`$ (ratio of ionizing photon to gas densities) in more luminous AGN predicted no Ly$`\alpha `$ Baldwin effect, or even an anti-Baldwin effect (Mushotzky & Ferland 1984; Shields & Ferland 1993). An anticorrelation between $`U`$ and $`L`$ has also been recently suggested on entirely independent grounds (Kaspi et al. 2000). Given the theoretical implications, further data on high-$`z`$ low-luminosity AGN from well-understood samples is needed to confirm our possible evidence for redshift evolution of the slope of the Baldwin effect in Ly$`\alpha `$ and C iv.

## 8 Conclusions

We have presented a sample of 47 confirmed and 14 candidate AGN from the CNOC2 field galaxy redshift survey, with redshifts from $`z=0.2697`$ to $`z=4.6755`$. In this paper we have discussed the following:

1. The average absolute magnitude of these AGN is $`M_B22.25`$, below the quasar/Seyfert division at $`M_B=23`$3.2). Only two AGN have been detected as radio sources; both of those are radio-loud (§3.1).

2. Spectroscopy was preferentially obtained for objects morphologically classified as resolved, but several hundred unresolved objects were also observed inadvertently or serendipitously, yielding samples of unresolved as well as resolved AGN. The unresolved and resolved AGN are expected to be representative of their particular types, but as a whole the sample may be biased toward host galaxies of above average luminosity relative to the AGN luminosity (§7.1).

3. No color selection criteria were involved in selecting this sample. Simple color-color diagram selection criteria can recover $``$81$`\pm `$6% of the CNOC2 AGN. However, several of the most unusual objects would still be missing from such a color-selected sample. It should be possible to increase the completeness of color-selected samples even further by selecting AGN candidates in multidimensional color space (§7.2).

4. The emission line selected AGN subsample shows a higher incidence of associated Mg ii$`\lambda `$2798 absorption than in previous surveys and an incidence of associated C iv$`\lambda `$1549 absorption which may be more similar to that of radio-selected quasar samples than optically-selected ones (§7.4). The sample size is very small (at most 9 objects with associated absorption), but this may represent an anti-correlation of strong associated absorption with optical luminosity (although any such trend does not appear to continue in nearby Seyfert 1 galaxies of even lower luminosity), or a decreasing frequency of its occurrence with cosmic time. Alternatively, it may arise either because the selection method is not biased against objects with resolved spatial structure (if such luminous and/or interacting galaxies preferentially stir up the gas responsible for associated absorption), nor against redder objects (if associated absorbers are dusty). The admittedly small CNOC2 AGN sample provides no strong evidence to support either of these last two possibilities, however.

5. We find that only 0.3$`\pm `$0.1% of galaxies brighter than $``$$`M^{}`$+1 at $`0.281<z<0.685`$ contain broad-line or \[Ne v\] AGN. We find a total surface density in the range 267$`{}_{}{}^{+63}{}_{49}{}^{}`$ to 398$`{}_{}{}^{+92}{}_{73}{}^{}`$ AGN deg-2 to $`R=22.09`$. This AGN surface density is comparable to previously published estimates (§7.5). About 20% of these AGN are classified as resolved or probably resolved in CFHT seeing and might be missed in surveys which target unresolved objects only.

6. The average rest-frame equivalent widths for Ly$`\alpha `$ and C iv are less than predicted by previous studies of the Baldwin effect, while the equivalent widths for C iii\] and Mg ii are in agreement with previous work. The data suggest that slope of the Baldwin effect in Ly$`\alpha `$ and C iv evolves with redshift, steepening with cosmic time. If confirmed, this may indicate evolution of AGN SEDs or ionization parameters with $`z`$7.6).

7. The sample includes several unusual objects: one with a candidate double-peaked Mg ii emission line of very high equivalent width (2148.102028; §4.1), several with unusual emission line properties (0223.130495 and 1447.051899; §4.1), one with an O iii$`\lambda `$3133 broad absorption line, (0223.130940; §5.1) and at least one with an optical absorption-line spectrum but broad H$`\alpha `$ emission in the near-IR (2148.050488; §6).

The CNOC2 AGN form a unique spectroscopically-selected sample useful for studying the properties of low-luminosity AGN, as this paper has shown in their possible deviation from the expected Baldwin effect. Planned followup observations include further spectroscopy to study the Baldwin effect and associated absorption in as many objects as possible, to confirm absorption-line AGN candidates and the unusual properties of certain objects, and to resolve the Mg ii/C iii\] redshift degeneracy where present.

We thank CTAC and the CFHT for generous allocations of telescope time, the CFHT operators for their expert and dedicated assistance during observing, D. Balam for assistance with the astrometry, P. Francis for providing LBQS data, J. Cohen for sharing her faint AGN spectra, E. Hooper for providing $`k`$-corrections electronically, and C. Steidel for providing his spectrum of cB58. CNOC was supported by a Collaborative Program grant from NSERC, as well as by individual NSERC operating grants to HY and RC. HL acknowledges support provided by NASA through Hubble Fellowship grant #HF-01110.01-98A awarded by the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., for NASA under contract NAS 5-26555.