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# The Local Group Census: planetary nebulae in Sextans BBased on observations obtained at the 2.5m INT telescope operated on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias.

## 1 Introduction

The galaxies of the Local Group (LG) are our closest neighbors in the Universe. All the galaxies within 1.25 Mpc from its barycentre are considered members of the LG (Courteau & van den Bergh courteau (1999)). The LG contains galaxies covering a large range of luminosities, metallicities, and morphological types, but the large majority are dwarf irregular and spheroidal galaxies. Their close distance enables the study of their content in much more detail than in more distant galaxies. For this reason, a new deep survey, the Local Group Census (LGC111See http://www.ing.iac.es/ rcorradi/LGC) has been undertaken in all the LG galaxies above Dec=$`30^{}`$. The survey aims at highlighting all populations with strong emission lines, such as, H II regions, planetary nebulae (PNe), supernova remnants, luminous blue variables, and Wolf-Rayet stars.

One of the first targets of the LGC was the dwarf irregular galaxy Sextans~B, which at a distance of 1.32$`\pm `$0.12 Mpc (Sakai et al. sakai (1997)) is located at the outer fringes of the Local Group. Although its radial velocity is consistent with membership of the LG, it might form, together with NGC~3109, Antlia, Sextans~A and perhaps AM1013-394A, a physical association of galaxies lying just beyond the boundaries of the LG, which would be the nearest association outside the LG (van den Bergh vdB (2000)). The resolved stellar population of Sextans~B is dominated by red giants (Sakai et al. sakai (1997)), with a prominent contribution of intermediate-age asymptotic branch stars. A young population is also present, indicating a complex, low-rate and likely discontinuous star formation throughout the galaxy lifetime (Tosi et al. tosi (1991); van den Bergh vdB (2000)). A dozen H ii regions are known (Strobel et al. strobel (1991)), but no PNe have been identified prior to this study (Jacoby & Lesser jacoby81 (1981)).

The narrow-band images (\[O iii\], H$`\alpha `$\+ \[N ii\], \[S ii\], He ii) presented in this paper show five new candidate PNe in Sextans~B. The observations are described in Sect. 2, and data reduction and analysis in Sect. 3. In Sect. 4, we present the candidate PNe, and discuss the results in Sect. 5.

## 2 Observations

We observed Sextans~B (DDO~70, 10h 00m 00s +05d 19m 56s, J2000.0) using the prime focus wide field camera (WFC) of the 2.54 m Isaac Newton Telescope (La Palma, Spain), on February and April 2001. The panoramic detector of the WFC consists of four thinned EEV CCDs of 2048$`\times `$4096 pixels each, and with a pixel scale of 0.$`\mathrm{}`$33. The $`34\mathrm{}\times 34\mathrm{}`$ field of view of the camera covered the entire galaxy. Four narrow-band filters were used, with the following central wavelengths and full widths at half maximum (FWHMs): \[O iii\] (500.8/10.0 nm), H$`\alpha `$\+ \[N ii\] (656.8/9.5), He ii (468.6/10.0) and \[S ii\] (672.5/8.0). A Strömgren y filter, centred at 555.0 nm and with a FWHM of 30.0 nm, was also used to obtain off-band images for continuum subtraction.

Exposure times were 600 s for y, 1200 s for \[O iii\] and H$`\alpha `$\+ \[N ii\], and 3600 s for He ii and \[S ii\] (split into three sub-exposures). The seeing was 1″ through the \[O iii\], H$`\alpha `$\+ \[N ii\], \[S ii\] and y filters, and 1″.5 through the He ii filter. Several observations were made each night of the spectrophotometric standard stars: BD+33 2642, G191-B2B and Feige 34 (Oke oke (1990)).

## 3 Data reduction and analysis

The frames were processed using IRAF. They were de-biased and flat-fielded using the ING WFC data-reduction pipeline (Irwin & Lewis irwin (2001)). Subsequently, they were corrected for geometrical distortions and aligned to the \[O iii\] frames. The sky background was determined in areas far from the galaxy and then subtracted from all images.

Emission-line objects were identified using a standard on-band/off-band technique (Magrini et al. magrini00 (2000)). Briefly, the stellar continuum of Sextans~B (Strömgren y images, properly scaled) was subtracted from the narrow-band images in order to highlight emission-line objects. Aperture photometry was applied using the IRAF task APPHOT in the continuum-subtracted frames. Photometric errors were derived from photon statistics for both sources and background with APPHOT. They are of few per cents both for \[O iii\] and for H$`\alpha `$+\[N ii\] fluxes.

The instrumental magnitudes were calibrated by convolving the spectrum of the standards used (Oke oke (1990)) with the response curve of each filters. An interstellar extinction of E(B-V)=0.02 was used (de Vaucouleurs et al. deV (1991)), following the Seaton (seaton (1979)) prescription. The fluxes in the \[O iii\] line at $`\lambda `$=500.7 nm were corrected for the contribution of the companion oxygen line at $`\lambda `$ 495.9 nm, which amounts to 20% of the total flux in the relatively broad filter used. Including the uncertainties in all steps, we estimate that the total absolute error on the absolute fluxes quoted in this paper is $``$20$`\%`$.

The astrometric solution for the \[O iii\] frames was also obtained through the WFC pipeline using the USNO A2.0 catalogue (Monet et al. monet (1998)). The solution has an r.m.s. accuracy of 0′′.3.

## 4 Candidate planetary nebulae

The H$`\alpha `$+\[N ii\] and \[O iii\] continuum-subtracted images (Fig. 1, left panels) show a number of emission-line objects. Some of them are clearly extended H ii regions, which were previously studied by Moles et al. (moles (1990)), Strobel et al. (strobel (1991)), Hunter et al. (hunter93 (1993)), Hunter & Hoffman (hunter99 (1999)), and Roye & Hunter (roye (2000)). We note that these regions form an approximate ring, with another H$`\alpha `$ nebulosity in the centre of the ring, perhaps close to the nucleus.

Candidate PNe in Sextans~B were selected using the following criteria (Magrini et al. magrini00 (2000), magrini01 (2001)):

i) they should appear both in the \[O iii\] and H$`\alpha `$+\[N ii\] images but not in the continuum frame;

ii) they should have a stellar point spread function: at the distance of Sextans~B. PNe are normally 0.1–1 pc in diameter, corresponding to 15–150 mas at the distance of Sextans~B.

Five objects in Sextans~B fulfill the criteria above; these new candidate PNe are listed in Table 1 and marked in Fig. 1. Only \[O iii\] and H$`\alpha `$+\[N ii\] fluxes are quoted in Table 1: they were not detected in He ii and \[S ii\]. The upper limit to these latter fluxes is estimated to be 10-16 erg cm-2 s-1. The \[O iii\] fluxes were converted into equivalent V-band magnitudes following Jacoby (jacoby89 (1989)):

$$m_{[\mathrm{O}\mathrm{III}]}=2.5\mathrm{log}F_{[\mathrm{O}\mathrm{III}]}13.74.$$

The luminosity was obtained from the relation $`L150\times L(H\beta )`$ (Zijlstra & Pottasch zijlstra89 (1989)),which is correct when the nebula is optically thick. This assumes that the \[N II\] lines make a negligible contribution to the H$`\alpha `$ line, which is likely correct at this low metallicity. The luminosities are close to but below the value of $`7000\mathrm{L}_{}`$, as expected for progenitor masses $`<2\mathrm{M}_{}`$.

This is the first identification of PNe in Sextans~B: previous surveys did not find any suitable candidate (Jacoby & Lesser jacoby81 (1981)). The five candidate PNe are distributed over an area of 1′.5$`\times `$4′.5, corresponding to a linear, projected size of 0.6 kpc$`\times `$1.7 kpc. Three of them are found in regions densely populated by stars, whilst the other two (SexB PN1 and SexB PN5) are located in the outskirts of Sextans~B, at projected distances from the galaxy centre of 0.8 and 1.1 kpc. All the candidate PNe have \[O iii\]/(H$`\alpha `$+\[N ii\]) flux ratios between 1.4 and 2.3. These are typical values for Galactic PNe (cf. Magrini et al. magrini00 (2000)), although the oxygen abundance of Sextans~B is only 0.16 times solar (Moles et al. moles (1990)).

### 4.1 Completeness limits

The detection of the five PNe raises the question: how many more remain to be discovered? Some PNe could have been missed in the most crowded region of Sextans~B. We have estimated this number by adding ‘artificial stars’ within the range of luminosities expected for PNe (Jacoby jacoby89 (1989)) in both the \[O iii\] and the off-band, y, frames using the IRAF task ADDSTAR. These artificial stars were recovered following the same procedures used to detect PNe. A 3$`\sigma `$ detection limit was adopted in the off-band frame. The recovery rate is significantly lower in the continuum-subtracted frames because of the larger noise produced in the scaling and subtraction of two images. This effect is dominant in recovering emission-line objects at faint magnitudes.

The incompleteness is a combination of the probability of missing an object in the emission-line image and the probability of wrongly identifying a star in the continuum frame. Incompleteness is defined as a recovery rate of artificial stars less then 50% (e.g. Minniti & Zijlstra minniti (1997)). This was computed in different regions of Sextans~B, and for a range of assumed magnitudes. We find that incompleteness occurs for emission-line objects fainter than $`m_{[\mathrm{O}\mathrm{III}]}`$=24.5, located within 1′.5 from the centre of the galaxy.

Counting all stars brighter than this completeness limit, we find that the total luminosity of these stars in the inner regions is about 40% of the total. This agrees (roughly) with 3 of the 5 PNe found in this region. As completeness is better than 50% in this area, we conclude that at most five PNe brighter than $`m_{[\mathrm{OIII}]}`$=24.5 may have been missed there.

### 4.2 Total PNe population size

The number of candidate PNe that we found in Sextans~B is consistent with the expected population size for this galaxy, which can be estimated from stellar population models. For a simple (i.e. coeval and chemically homogeneous) stellar population, the number of stars $`n_j`$ in any post-main-sequence phase $`j`$ (Renzini & Buzzoni renzini (1986)) is given by

$$n_j=\dot{\xi }L_Tt_j,$$

where $`\dot{\xi }`$ is the specific evolutionary flux (number of stars per unit luminosity leaving the main sequence each year), $`L_T`$ the total luminosity of the galaxy, and $`t_j`$ the duration of the evolutionary phase $`j`$ ($``$20 000 yrs for the PN phase). Adopting a bolometric luminosity of Sextans~B of $``$108 $`L_{}`$ (van den Bergh vdB (2000)), and a specific evolutionary flux between $`5\times 10^{12}`$ and $`2\times 10^{11}`$ yr-1 $`L_{}^1`$ (cf. Renzini & Buzzoni renzini (1986), Mendez et al. mendez (1993)), the corresponding population size of PNe in Sextans~B is between 5 and 20 objects. This appears to be in good agreement with the number of PNe discovered. However, the \[O III\] luminosity of a PN rapidly declines once the nebulae becomes optically thin, and the phase during which a PN is bright enough to be discovered here is much shorter, typically 5000 yr (assuming an expansion velocity of 20 km/s and a radius of 0.1 pc). Thus, the number of PNe may be a little higher than expected.

Figure 2 shows the number of known PNe for all nearby galaxies, using data in van den Bergh (vdB (2000)), with three exception: M33 now has 131 known PNE (Magrini et al. magrini01 (2001)), whilst for the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal 3 PNe are now known (Walsh, priv. comm.), and for WLM both published PNe have been shown to be normal stars (Minniti & Zijlstra minniti (1997)). For the Milky Way (MW), about 1100 PNe are now known, but the total number has been estimated to be as high as 23000 (Zijlstra & Pottasch zijlstra91 (1991)). Figure 2 plots the number of PNe versus the V-band luminosity of the galaxy, in solar units. Eq. (1) suggests that this relation should be strictly linear, for a uniform star formation history. The dashed line gives the expected total number of PNe scaling from 23000 in the MW. The dotted line is fitted to the known number in the LMC, where surveys have been most complete. It is clear that only the bright tip of the PN luminosity function can be detected. Figure 2 also shows that for galaxies with $`M_V>12.5`$, one would not expect to detect the PN population.

Given its distance, the PN census in Sextans~B may be expected to be less deep than that in the LMC. However, the two fall on the same line. This could be explained if Sextans~B has a large proportion of intermediate-age stars, with a significant fraction of this star formation over the past 5 Gyr or so, compared to the LMC: a younger population has a higher death rate and will produce more PNe. The star formation in the Universe has declined rapidly from its peak around $`z1.5`$ (Lilly et al. lilly (1995); Madau et al. madau (1998)); however, Sextans~B may be an example of a galaxy with a more delayed star formation history. The distribution in Fig. 2, once completeness has been reached, can be used to measure the star formation history for intermediate-age stars.

The small population size prevents us from building a meaningful Planetary Nebulae Luminosity Function (PNLF) for Sextans~B, a property that is generally used as an extragalactic distance indicator (Jacoby jacoby89 (1989)). In fact, the absolute magnitude of the bright cutoff of the PNLF depends on the size of the PN population. For a small population as in Sextans~B, the bright PNe defining the “universal” cutoff of the PNLF ($`m_{[\mathrm{O}\mathrm{III}]}^{}=4.48`$, Jacoby 1989) are not observed owing to the poor sampling. The simulations of Mendez et al. (mendez (1993)) show, that even for a population size of 500 PNe, typical of the LMC and much larger than in Sextans~B, no PNe with absolute magnitude lower than $`4.0`$ are expected. Therefore, the absolute magnitude of the brightest PN in Sextans~B, equal to $`3.59`$ mag, is qualitatively consistent with its small population size, and can only provide an upper limit of $``$2 Mpc for the distance of the galaxy.

Figure 2 and the completeness analysis above suggest that the PN census in Sextans~B is now fairly complete. In many other galaxies (especially IC 10), significant PN populations remain to be found.

## 5 Summary and conclusions

Five new candidate PNe have been discovered in the dwarf irregular galaxy Sextans~B. This is a notable result considering the limited number of PNe known in the other dwarf galaxies of the LG. In fact, a total of four PNe are known in the dwarf spheroidal companions of the Milky Way: three PNe in Sagittarius (Walsh et al. walsh97 (1997); Dudziak et al. dudziak (2000)), and one in Fornax (Danziger et al. danziger (1978)). Another few PNe have been discovered in the dwarf companions of M 31, and one in NGC 6822 (Ciardullo et al. ciardullo (1989); Jacoby & Ford jacoby86 (1986)).

The number of candidate PNe detected in Sextans~B is in good agreement with the PNe population size expected from stellar evolution models.


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# 1 Normalized V(T) measurements for:(a) Twinned crystal. Inset: Δ𝑉(𝐼) curves for 𝑇>𝑇_{𝑡ℎ} and 𝑇<𝑇_{𝑡ℎ}. (b) Untwinned crystal. Inset: Δ𝑉(𝐼) curves for 𝑇<``𝑇_{𝑡ℎ}".

\[

\]

Comment on “Strong Vortex Liquid Correlation from Multiterminal Measurements on Untwinned YBa2Cu3O7-δ Single Crystals”
From recent transport experiments A.Rydh and Ö.Rapp  (RR) claim that the vortex liquid in untwinned YBa2Cu3O7-δ crystals is correlated above the melting transition, in striking contrast to previous work . In this Comment we present new measurements using the same experimental technique on twinned and untwinned YBa2Cu3O7-δ crystals with similar overall characteristics as those reported by RR. The comparison of the vortex correlation response in both cases indicates that the central conclusion of the work of RR is not correct. Our results reconfirm the work by López et al.  and points on the origin of the misinterpretation in the work of RR.

The results of the voltage response, V(T), for a twinned crystal in a magnetic field of H = 6 T, are shown Fig.1(a). At high temperatures the dissipation at the top, Vtop, is larger than at the bottom, Vbot, as a result of the inhomogeneous current distribution acting upon an uncorrelated vortex system. As the temperature is lowered Vtop equals Vbot at Tth. This result could be either a trivial consequence of the limited experimental voltage sensitivity (indicating an ohmic decrease of the resistance in the $`c`$ direction) or associated with the stablishment of vortex velocity correlation wich implies vortex phase correlation along the field direction across the sample thickness. In the first case the I-V curves are ohmic, in the second a non-linear behavior indicates the existence of a finite cutting current , Icut, for T$`<`$Tth. This second case is fulfilled for the twinned sample as shown in the inset of Fig. 1(a). While for T$`>`$Tth, $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$V(I)= Vtop-Vbot extrapolates to zero at I=0, for T$`<`$Tth a well defined Icut is detected.

For an untwinned crystal  equivalent results are shown in Fig. 1(b). From the V(T) curves alone one is tempted to conclude, as RR did, that the vortex liquid is correlated between Tm and the “apparent” Tth. However, the behavior of the I-V curves shows that in this case the result Vtop=Vbot is just a consequence of the limited voltage sensitivity. The inset shows a linear $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$V(I) that extrapolates to zero for I=0 at $`T<\mathrm{`}\mathrm{`}T_{th}\mathrm{"}`$, consistent with a continuous ohmic decrease of the resistance in the $`c`$ direction. This absence of Icut is in sharp contrast to the behavior observed in the twinned samples  and is the fingerprint of an uncorrelated vortex system. Moreover, the local analysis of the parallel and perpendicular resistivities in terms of the Laplace equation  is only consistent with this linear behavior .

In summary, the information provided by the I-V curves is crucial to give a correct interpretation to the Tth extracted from the V(T) curves. This key point is lacking in the results of RR and therefore it cannot be concluded solely from their V(T) curves that the vortex liquid in untwinned samples is correlated. A proper measurement of I-V characteristics would have led RR to the opposite conclusion.

We thank G. Nieva for the x-ray and polarized light studies and Y. Fasano for the Bitter decoration.
B.Maiorov, A.V.Silhanek, F. de la Cruz and E.Osquiguil
Centro Atómico Bariloche and Instituto Balseiro, Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, 8400 S. C. de Bariloche, R. N., Argentina.
PACS numbers: 74.60.Ge,74.62.Dh
$`[1]`$ A.Rydh and Ö.Rapp, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 1873 (2001).
$`[2]`$ D.López et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 4034 (1996).
$`[3]`$ D.López et al., Phys. Rev. B 50, 9684 (1994).
$`[4]`$ as confirmed by x-rays, polarized light microscopy and Bitter decoration of the vortex lattice.
$`[5]`$ H.Safar et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 1272 (1994).


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# The 2dF BL Lac Survey

## 1 Introduction

Over the last decade research into the nature of BL Lac objects has greatly increased our understanding of this enigmatic and intrinsically rare class of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Nevertheless, small number statistics and inhomogeneous samples have left many key questions unanswered. In particular the evolutionary behaviour of the BL Lac population is poorly known, and from recent survey results (e.g. Padovani & Giommi 1995; Bade et al. 1998; Rector et al. 2000) appears inconsistent with trends observed in the population of AGN as a whole.

BL Lacs are thought to be dominated by emission from a non-thermal, relativistic jet emanating from the galaxy’s core. Their optical spectra are thus characterised by an absence of prominent emission or absorption features, making them difficult to target in optical surveys. Initial detection is therefore usually at either X-ray or radio frequencies, with subsequent optical follow-up. Not surprisingly, surveys conducted at these different frequencies find differing classes of objects, with the BL Lacs selected in radio surveys (e.g. the 1 Jy BL Lac Sample, Stickel et al. 1991) being predominantly the radio-loud or low energy peaked variety (LBLs), whilst X-ray selected samples are characterised by a population of less luminous (optically and at radio frequencies), X-ray dominant, high energy peaked BL Lacs (HBLs) (e.g. the EMSS BL Lac Sample, Morris et al. 1991).

Although deeper, multiwavelength surveys have overcome some of the problems of selection bias and high flux limits (for example, the $`ROSAT`$ All Sky Survey-Greenbank BL Lac Sample (Laurent-Muehleisen et al. 1999), revealing a new population of IBLs – BL Lacs with properties intermediate between those of LBLs and HBLs), greater coverage of objects at the very faint end of the luminosity scale is still necessary if the question of BL Lac evolution is to be addressed satisfactorily. The current understanding is that, while LBLs and IBLs exhibit mildly positive or no evolution (Rector & Stocke 2001, Laurent-Muehleisen et al. 1999) the HBLs appear to evolve negatively, that is they were either less numerous or less luminous in the past (Wolter et al. 1994, Rector et al. 2000). This is in direct contrast to the trend of strong, positive evolution exhibited by other classes of AGN.

Estimating the relative numbers of LBLs and HBLs is similarly hampered by survey flux limits and selection biases (Urry & Padovani 1995; Fossati 2001). Furthermore finding low luminosity BL Lac objects at higher redshifts is likely to be difficult at X-ray frequencies, given that these objects are also characterised by a lower Doppler factor, $`\delta `$111$`\delta =(\mathrm{\Gamma }(1\beta cos\theta ))^1`$, where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }=(1\beta ^2)^{1/2}`$, $`\theta `$ is the angle to the line of sight and $`\beta c`$ is the bulk velocity of the jet; when $`\theta =1/\mathrm{\Gamma },\delta =\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, and hence lower $`\nu _{peak}`$ (Giommi et al. 2001). Thus at the emitted frequency the flux may well fall below the survey flux limit, and as a consequence omission of these fainter, extreme HBLs would result in an artificial flattening of the number–flux (N–S) relation for this class of BL Lac.

Clearly selection at optical wavelengths (below $`\nu _{peak}`$) would overcome some of the bias in estimating numbers of LBLs and HBLs (Urry & Padovani 1995). Furthermore, an optically flux-limited survey essentially places no upper or lower limits on the radio and X-ray fluxes of objects in the sample; the difficulty has always been the amount of telescope time required to assemble such a sample. Recently, however, an opportunity has arisen to select BL Lac candidates primarily from optical observations using the 2dF QSO Redshift Survey (2QZ, Croom et al. 2001). On completion the 2QZ will contain almost 50000 spectra of $`UBR`$ colour-selected stellar objects at magnitudes $`18.25<b_\mathrm{J}20.85`$, of which approximately 25000 will be QSOs.

In this paper we present an initial analysis of 56 objects with featureless continuum spectra and no significant proper motion, selected from the 2QZ catalogue as at July 2001. Our procedure for the selection of BL Lac candidates from this catalogue is described in section 2; in section 3 we present details of the radio and optical observations and derive in section 4 the number-magnitude relation for this sample of candidate BL Lac objects. A discussion of our findings follows in Section 5.

## 2 The 2dF BL Lac Survey

### 2.1 The 2QZ catalogue

The 2QZ is a large spectroscopic survey of QSO candidates which, when complete, will result in the spectroscopic identification of a catalogue of $``$25000 QSOs, more than twenty times larger than any previous such catalogue. The survey has been made possible by the 2-degree field (2dF), 400-fibre multi-object spectrograph at the Anglo-Australian Telescope (Lewis et al. 2001). The survey area covers a total of 740 deg2, made up of two 75o x 5o strips, one centered on $`\delta =30^{}`$ with RA range 21h40 to 3h15 (southern strip) and the other centered on $`\delta =0^o`$ with RA range 9h50 to 14h50 (equatorial strip). QSO candidates were selected from APM measurements of UK Schmidt $`U,J`$ and $`R`$ plates/films on the basis of their $`ub_\mathrm{J}/b_\mathrm{J}r`$ colours and 18.25 $`<b_\mathrm{J}20.85`$. A detailed description of the creation of the input catalogue is given in Smith et al. (2002). The key features of the selection criteria are that objects satisfy either $`u^{}b_\mathrm{J}0.36`$ or $`u^{}b_\mathrm{J}<0.120.8(b_\mathrm{J}r)`$ or $`b_\mathrm{J}r<0.05`$, where $`u^{}=u0.24`$. Further information is available at http://www.2dfquasar.org.

### 2.2 Selection of continuum sources

The first 2dF observations for the QSO survey were made in September 1997 and by July 2001 the catalogue contained 40736 objects, of which 50.5 per cent are QSOs. This version of the catalogue, representing an intermediate stage between the 10k catalogue (Croom et al. 2001) and final catalogues, was used as the basis for selecting the BL Lac candidates in the current sample. The total area covered by this catalogue is 613 deg2.

The spectroscopic data from 2dF were initially reduced using the 2dF pipeline reduction system (Bailey et al. 2002). Classification and redshift estimation for the QSOs was carried out using a specially written $`\mathrm{autoz}`$ code (Miller et al. in preparation) based on a $`\chi ^2`$ fit to stellar/QSO templates. All $`\mathrm{autoz}`$ classifications were checked and double-checked by independent 2QZ team members to ensure a high-level of catalogue reliability (97 per cent, see Croom et al. 2001). With the express purpose of identifying objects with featureless spectra, all spectra satisfying $`18.25<b_\mathrm{J}20.00`$ and with a measured signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of $`10.0`$ were visually re-examined (see section 2.3). Fainter objects satisfying the SNR criterion were not included in the analysis because it would be difficult to obtain follow-up spectroscopic observations at higher resolution/signal-to-noise. A number of fields were observed during periods of significant moonlight. In some cases this moonlight caused excess scattered light in the 2dF spectrographs which was not completely removed by the data reduction process. This produced artificially high, featureless continuum levels for some objects observed in those fields. Consequently we removed all fields with strong moonlight, determined from sky counts in that field. With the removal of these fields the total survey area became 544 deg2.

### 2.3 Visual classification

From this area we selected for visual re-examination 6772 objects satisfying the above selection criteria. Approximately 15 per cent of the objects in the 2QZ have two or more spectra obtained at different times during survey observations. Different spectra of the same objects were also inspected and classified independently.

Objects with featureless continua are inherently difficult to classify. For consistency, we adopted the standard operational definition of a BL Lac as an extragalactic object with no emission lines greater than $`W_\lambda =`$5Å and Ca II H&K break contrast of less than 0.25 (Stocke et al. 1990). We took great care to remove all Galactic subdwarfs with weak absorption lines (Ca II H&K, Balmer series, He I, He II, Mg H) and also QSOs with emission lines.

Provided they met these criteria, we also included objects with non-stellar absorption lines to avoid bias against high redshift objects with intervening absorbers. We also included objects with extremely broad ($`>200`$Å) and unidentifiable emission humps or dips in the continuum. This was to avoid bias against lineless QSOs with broad absorption line systems which would also fulfil the BL Lac classification criteria. Care was taken to avoid selecting peculiar low-ionisation broad absorption line (BAL) QSOs (Becker et al. 1997) under this latter criterion. We attempted to minimise any subjectivity in this visual classification scheme by using three independent examiners (DL, SMC and BJB). To be accepted as a continuum source, an object spectrum has to be classified as such by at least two people independently. Two of the people who carried out the visual inspection (SMC and BJB) have also examined visually all 40000 spectra observed to date (August 2001) in the 2QZ. Selection of continuum objects was therefore made by those with significant experience of the visual appearance of a wide range of optical QSO spectra. While the ’continuum’ spectra selected here may simply represent the objects in the extreme tail of the QSO emission line equivalent width distribution, they are markedly different in spectral appearance from the 20000 QSOs identified to date in the 2QZ.

Based on these criteria, 74 objects out of the 6772 initially selected to have high signal-to-noise spectra were classified as having continuum spectra.

### 2.4 Removing contamination by white dwarfs

Although the identifying feature of a BL Lac object at optical wavelengths is an absence of features, it clearly does not follow that all featureless continuum objects are BL Lacs. The most likely non-AGN class of objects which could be confused with a BL Lac on the basis of their optical spectra are continuum DC white dwarfs (e.g. Wesemael et al 1993). One feature which can distinguish between AGN and DC white dwarfs is a measurement of proper motion. We would expect DC white dwarfs to exhibit a detectable proper motion over the typical period between the UKST $`J`$ and $`R`$ photographic plates used to create the 2QZ input catalogue. Based on the McCook & Sion (1999) catalogue DC white dwarfs exhibit a range in absolute magnitude $`12<M_B<16`$ with a median $`M_B=14`$. Even if we assume that the colour selection would have biased any selection of DC white dwarfs towards the brightest absolute magnitudes ($`M_B12`$), this corresponds to a distance of 275 pc at $`B=19.2`$, the median magnitude of our sample. With typical transverse velocities observed in the range $`3080`$ km s-1 (Sion et al. 1988), at this distance DC white dwarfs would exhibit proper motions $`2360`$ mas yr-1.

We used the SuperCOSMOS Sky Survey222SuperCosmos Sky Survey at www-wfau.roe.ac.uk/sss, maintained by the Institute for Astronomy, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh. to search for proper motions in our sample based on the positions measured from the UKST $`J`$ and $`R`$ sky survey plates. Given the typical astrometric accuracy obtainable from the $`J`$ and $`R`$ photographic plates ($`0.10`$ arcsec in each co-ordinate) and the typical mean epoch separation (16 years for fields in the southern strip, and 11 years for 8 fields in the equatorial strip), we are sensitive at the $`3\sigma `$ level to proper motions with 30 mas yr-1. This should be sufficient to detect the bulk of the DC white dwarf population.

Of the 74 objects originally selected, 18 exhibited proper motions detectable at $`3\sigma `$. Of these 18 objects, the typical apparent proper motions ranged from 30 to 100 mas yr-1, largely consistent with that expected for DC white dwarfs. One object out of the 18 exhibited a proper motion of $`320\pm 80`$ mas yr-1, but this was based on a plate pair with only a one year separation in epoch. The distribution of proper motions for our sample is shown in Fig. 1, where we plot the ratio of the proper motion to the error in each coordinate. A circle of radius $`3\sigma `$ then defines our proper motion cut. We test whether the distribution is consistent with the apparent proper motion distribution for all the QSOs in the 2QZ with $`18.25<b_\mathrm{J}<19.75`$ and SNR $`10`$, shown in Fig. 2. A 1-dimensional Kolmogorov Smirnov (KS) test on the radial distribution of proper motions in Figs. 1 and 2 revealed no significant difference at the 95 per cent confidence level between the two distributions when objects exhibiting $`>3\sigma `$ proper motions are removed from both samples. For the QSOs, plate measurement errors have resulted in $``$ 2 per cent of sources being attributed with $`>3\sigma `$ proper motion; this is higher than would be expected for a purely Gaussian distribution.

Rejecting the 18 objects with proper motions from our data set we define a sample of 56 continuum objects with non-significant proper motions. These objects are listed in Table 1, while we list the sources with proper motions in Table 2. The sample of 56 objects we refer to below as the 2dF BL Lac (2BL) sample.

However some residual contamination of the 2BL sample is likely to remain. This is confirmed by a comparison of the QSO proper motion histogram with that of the 2BL sample (see Fig. 3). We normalised the QSO histogram to contain the same number of objects as the 2BL sample with $`<1\sigma `$ proper motions. There is clearly an excess in the numbers of objects in the 2BL with $`23\sigma `$ proper motions. This excess amounts to approximately 10/56 objects or $`1520`$ per cent of the sample. However, we chose not to enforce a more stringent proper motion limit on the 2BL, given the observed plate measurement errors and since two previously catalogued BL Lacs (J030416.4–283215 and J105534.3-012604) independently ‘re-discovered’ in the 2BL, exhibit $`>2\sigma `$ proper motion ($`33\pm 12`$ and $`71\pm 35`$mas yr-1 respectively). Removing the nine radio-quiet objects with $`>2.5\sigma `$, or the 12 with $`>2.0\sigma `$ did not change the slope of the $`n(b_\mathrm{J})`$ relation computed for the sample (see section 4.2).

We also found that 35 per cent of the DA white dwarfs from the 2QZ in the same magnitude range as the 2BL exhibited $`>3\sigma `$ proper motion. However, we cannot use this number to compute the likely number of DC white dwarfs which remain undetected in the 2BL due to low proper motions. The DA white dwarfs in the 2QZ will have absolute magnitudes up to $`M_B10`$ (Boyle 1989), two magnitudes brighter than the brightest DC white dwarfs. Their tangential velocity distribution is also biased towards lower velocities ($`4050`$km s-1) than non-DA white dwarfs (Sion et al. 1988). Thus we would expect DA white dwarfs to exhibit proper motions typically up to three times less than the DC white dwarfs; $`15`$mas yr-1 for the brightest $`M_B=10`$ objects and below the level of detectability with the plate material available to the 2BL. For DA white dwarfs with $`M_B=12`$, the median magnitude for DA white dwarfs in the Durham/AAT survey (Boyle 1989), we would predict a mean proper motion of $`40`$mas yr-1. Thus the observation that 35 per cent of DA white dwarfs in the 2QZ have proper motions at the 30 mas yr-1 level or higher is consistent with a population with a median $`M_B=12`$ and tangential velocity $`50\pm 10`$km s-1.

By the same token, we anticipate that the vast majority of the DC white dwarf population with a brightest absolute magnitude of $`M_B=12`$ and somewhat higher observed mean tangential velocity ($`60`$km s-1) will have observed proper motions at greater than the $`30`$mas yr-1 level.

We can also obtain an estimate of the catalogue completeness based on the fraction of previously known BL Lacs in the 2QZ region re-discovered by this survey. The Veron & Veron-Cetty (2001) catalogue lists 20 objects with a BL Lac or possible BL Lac identification in the region covered by the 2BL survey. Seven of these objects were classified as non-stellar in the initial measurement process of the photographic material by the APM and so were not included in the stellar catalogue from which the 2QZ was created. Only two of these non-stellar objects have magnitudes which fall within the magnitude range of the 2QZ.

As an aside we note that the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey independently re-discovered the six non-stellar BL Lacs that lie within the magnitude limits of that survey (Lewis I.J., private communication).

Of the remaining 13 objects classified as stellar, 11 have $`ub_\mathrm{J}`$/$`b_\mathrm{J}r`$ colours which place them in the locus used to define the 2QZ (see Section 4.1, Fig. 9). The two objects with colours outside this locus are both classified as BL? in the Veron & Veron-Cetty catalogue. Seven of the 11 colour-selected objects lie within the $`b_\mathrm{J}`$ magnitude limits of the 2QZ and 4 within the magnitude limits and SNR limits of the 2BL. Three of these objects (1RXS J10555$``$0126, 1RXS J023536.7$``$293845, and 1RXS J030416.4$``$283215) were independently re-discovered in the 2BL. The fourth (UM566), identified as a ‘?’ in the Veron & Veron-Cetty BL Lac catalogue, was identified spectroscopically as an unambiguous DA white dwarf in the 2QZ.

If we restrict our attention to those objects with a definitive BL Lac classification in the Veron & Veron-Cetty catalogue, we find that the 2QZ colour criteria would have selected 7/7 known bona fide BL Lacs with stellar images, or 7/9 BL Lacs if we include the non-stellar BL Lacs. Extending this to include the uncertain BL Lacs as well (but excluding the known white dwarf) gives a figure of 10/12 lying within the colour critera of the 2QZ.

We therefore conclude that any incompleteness resulting from the 2QZ colour selection is low (10-15 per cent), and indeed minimal for previously confirmed BL Lacs. Furthermore all known BL Lacs which made it through the colour selection process, and fulfilled the magnitude and SNR criteria of the 2BL, were classified as BL Lacs.

### 2.5 Cross-correlation with radio and X-ray surveys

For each object in the 2BL sample a search was performed using the NVSS333NRAO/VLA Sky Survey (Condon et al. 1998) and (where applicable) FIRST444Faint Images of the Radio Sky at 20cm (White et al. 1997) databases. Initially nine matches were found in NVSS with no additional matches in FIRST, and all were within a radius of 11 arcsec (search conducted out to 15 arcsec). Subsequent inspection of all NVSS and FIRST radio maps at the coordinates of our sources revealed no detections above the rms noise levels, nevertheless a conservative 5$`\sigma `$ detection limit was adopted for the 46 non radio-detected 2BL objects, as listed in Table 1. A further cross-correlation of 2BL sources was carried out with the ROSAT bright and faint all sky X-ray catalogues (Voges et al. 1999), initially using a 40 arcsec radius. All five matches found were, however, within a 15 arcsec radius. A search out to 60 arcsec revealed no further matches. All five objects with a detectable X-ray flux are radio sources, consistent with the observation that all X-ray selected BL Lacs are radio-loud (Stocke et al. 1990). Two of these objects with both radio and X-ray flux are listed in the literature as BL Lacs (see Table 1).

## 3 Radio and Optical Observations

### 3.1 2dF observations

The 2dF spectra for the 56 objects in the 2BL sample are plotted in Appendix A. A number of objects (12/56) also have a second (or third) observations with 2dF with SNR of least 5. These are also shown in Appendix A. Of the four objects which have two or more SNR $`>10`$ spectra, three (J002751.5–293506, J100253.2–001725 and J114137.1–002730) had both spectra (in one case all three) independently identified as belonging to a continuum source. In the fourth case (J023405.5-301519) one spectrum displays broad lines of C III\] and C IV at $`z=1.710`$ (see below). Of the eight objects with additional lower SNR spectra ($`5<`$SNR$`<10`$), two (J003058.2–275629 and J114327.3–005050) show evidence for broad emission lines. We have further examined all the available 2dF spectra to identify weak lines indicating a redshift, or absorption lines from intervening systems placing a lower limit on a redshift. As well as intrinsic redshift measurements we should also expect that if the 2BL sample is largely composed of extragalactic sources a number should also show narrow metal absorption systems, e.g. Mg II or C IV, or indeed Lyman $`\alpha `$ for objects with $`z>2.1`$. These can then be used to place a lower limit on an object’s redshift. In their analysis of the QSOs in the 2QZ 10k catalogue, Outram et al. (2001) find that 11 per cent of QSOs at $`z>0.5`$ with SNR $`>15`$ have significant narrow absorption line systems with more than one absorption line. This then suggests that we should find $`45`$ sources in the 2BL with these features.

Below we discuss the individual sources which show emission or absorption features:

J003058.2–275629 has two 2dF spectra, of which one shows clear evidence of broad C III\] and C IV emission lines at $`z=1.577`$. With knowledge of its redshift, it is possible to see weak C III\] ($`W_\lambda 4`$Å \[rest frame\]) and (tentatively) weak C IV in the higher SNR spectrum, from which the original continuum ID was made. There thus appears to be continuum variability in this source.

J023405.5-301519, as noted above, shows broad C III\] and C IV emission at $`z=1.710`$ in one spectrum. There is no evidence of these features in the other 2QZ spectrum of this object. We class this a source with variable continuum emission.

J031056.9–305901 has a number of narrow absorption lines, most probably due to intervening absorbers. The absorber at 4760Å could be either Mg II or C IV, suggesting a lower limit on the redshift of $`z>0.70`$.

J113900.5–020140 has one strong absorption line visible at 4500Å in both spectra. A redshift lower limit of $`z>0.61`$ may be set assuming this feature is due to the Mg II doublet.

J114221.4–014812 exhibits a single very weak emission line ($`EW_{\mathrm{rest}}=4`$Å) at 6370Å. Assigning this to Mg II we derive a redshift of $`z=1.276`$. However, we see no corresponding C III\] emission at this redshift.

J114327.3–005050 has two spectra, of which one shows broad C III\] and C IV emission at $`z=1.591`$. The other spectrum shows no evidence of emission lines. This object is therefore classed as variable.

J120015.3+000552 shows an absorption doublet at 5400Å which corresponds to Mg II at $`z=0.94`$. There is also a weak Fe II 2600Å absorption line at the same redshift. The redshift of this object is thus $`z>0.94`$.

J123437.6–012953 contains a system with Mg II, Fe II 2600Å and Fe II 2383Å absorption at $`z=1.06`$, which defines a lower limit to the redshift of this object.

J142526.2–011826 shows narrow H$`\alpha `$ and \[O II\] yielding a low redshift of $`z=0.041`$. In this case the Ca II H&K break contrast is negligible, consistent with the operational definition for BL Lac classification (Morris et al. 1991).

J221105.2–284933 contains a strong absorption system at $`z=1.85`$ with C IV, Al II 1671Å and Fe II 2344, 2383, 2587 and 2600Å. On the blue wing of the C IV absorption line is an emission feature which could be intrinsic C IV emission, however, no other emission features are found, and the rest equivalent width of the line is only 1.6Å. We therefore use $`z=1.85`$ as a lower limit to the redshift of this object, noting however that this absorption may be intrinsic to the source.

J230306.0–312737 shows features bluewards of 4250Å which could be Ly$`\alpha `$ absorption. There is also a bump at 5320Å which could be associated with C IV at $`z=2.44`$, however this would imply that any Ly$`\alpha `$ emission has been absorbed. Although this object may be identified as a QSO at $`z=2.44`$, we choose to leave it in the current sample given the uncertainty of its identification. Removal of this object from the 2BL has no effect on our conclusions.

For the objects which appear to vary we have confirmed that the featureless nature of the spectra is not an artifact of the data-reduction process, so that the difference between the two spectra appears to be real. We interpret this as due to continuum variablity, with the broad emission lines appearing when the continuum is in its low state - behaviour also shown by the prototype of the BL Lac class (Corbett et al. 2000). Indeed it is possible that the variable nature of the continuum in these sources has caused us to miss potential members of this class when classification is made from a single spectrum. Continuum variability would tend to give rise to an enhanced visibility of emission lines in spectra taken in a low continuum state – corresponding to a lower SNR spectrum for a survey with largely fixed exposure times.

Of the 12 2BL objects for which we have two or more spectra (26 spectra in total), three show some evidence for continuum variability which would have resulted in a QSO, rather than a continuum classification. Given that this behaviour is observed in the prototype of the class, we choose to retain these objects in the 2BL. Although based on a small sample (3 spectra out of 26), we estimate that continuum variability may lead to a potential 10–15 per cent incompleteness due to mis-classification in the 2BL.

The number of 2BL sources which contain metal absorption lines is broadly consistent with that expected and we note that a similar radio-quiet continuum source has been found by Croom et al. (in preparation) in the 2QZ. This object falls below the magnitude limit of the 2BL, but shows a red continuum with C IV and Al III absorption at $`z=1.89`$, confirming that such high redshift continuum sources do exist. We further note that Fan et al. (1999) have found a “quasar without emission lines” at $`z=4.62`$ in data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

### 3.2 Higher signal-to-noise spectroscopy

Despite the anticipated difficulty of obtaining redshifts for the 2BL sample, we nevertheless began a campaign to obtain higher signal-to-noise, higher resolution spectra of as many of the 2BL sample as possible. We can use these observations to place yet more stringent limits on the featureless nature of the optical spectra and obtain an independant measure of the likely contamination level of the 2BL by galactic stars.

One candidate BL Lac (J225453.2–272509) was observed in August 2000 using the long slit, double-beam spectrograph (DBS) on the Mt Stromlo 2.3m telescope at Siding Spring. The object was observed for a total of two hours with resolutions of 4.1 and 4.5 Å pixel-1 in the blue (3800–6100Å) and the red (6200–8500Å) arms of the DBS respectively. Data reduction was performed using standard IRAF555IRAF is distributed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatories,operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc., under cooperative agreemfent with the National Science Foundation procedures (ccdred and apall).

J225453.2–272509 was confirmed as having no emission lines and we were able to measure a redshift of $`z=0.333`$ from Ca II H & K and G band absorption features.

A further 4 BL Lac candidates were observed on 2001 February 21–22 using the ISIS double-beam spectrograph on the William Herschel Telescope. These spectra covered the range 3800Å–5000Å and 6300Å–8000Å in the blue and red arms respectively at a spectral resolution of 1Å pixel-1. Exposure times of 20 minutes were sufficient to yield a SNR $`>`$25 in the continuum of these objects.

Two candidates in the 2BL sample (J105534.3–012617 and J121834.8–011955) had also been observed with Keck as part of a follow-up of radio-loud 2QZ sources (Brotherton et al. 1998). The first of these two was one of the sources also observed with the WHT.

These 7 objects represent 12.5 per cent of the 2BL sample. Apart from the Keck spectra, the objects on which follow-up spectroscopy was obtained were selected at random from the 2BL. Of the five objects selected at random, all exhibit spectra consistent with a continuum source identification.

We are thus able to obtain possible redshifts/limits for 12 objects in this sample, covering a relatively wide range in redshift; from $`z=0.041`$ to $`z>2.4`$, with a median $`z=1.2`$ (assuming that objects with lower limits are at that limiting redshift). Of these, only two are detected radio sources (J225453.2–272509, $`z=0.333`$ and J221105.2–284933 at $`z>1.85`$).

From the optical spectroscopic observations and the proper motion study above we can place a limit on the likely contamimation of the sample by weak-lined Galactic subdwarfs and white dwarfs of 10 – 20 per cent. Although both are subject to large uncertainties, we note that this limit on the contamination level is similar to the potential incompleteness level caused by continuum variability (see above). In the statistical analysis below, we therefore choose not to correct the numbers in the 2BL for either incompleteness or contamination. However we do note that the numbers/normalisation of the 2BL sample carry an uncertainty at least at the $`\pm 20`$ per cent level.

### 3.3 Radio observations at 8.4 GHz

Observations of a sub-sample of eight 2BL objects were made at a frequency of 8.4 GHz using the NRAO Very Large Array on 2001 January 28. The array was in a hybrid BnA$``$B configuration with 25 antennas operating. BL Lac candidates from the equatorial strip were observed for 32 minutes each while those from the southern strip ($`27^o<\delta <31.5`$) were observed for 40 minutes, in both cases in snapshot mode. Flux densities were bootstrapped from 3C286. The typical noise level in each snapshot was 45$`\mu `$Jy.

Data were reduced using the ATNF’s666Australia Telescope National Facility miriad software package (Sault, Teuben & Wright 1995), following standard procedues from the Miriad User’s Manual (Sault and Killeen 1999).

We found no detections at the positions of the candidate BL Lac sources with a flux density $`>5\sigma `$ ($`0.2`$mJy) above the background noise level. Results are included in Table 1.

A comparison of the radio flux distributions of the nine radio-loud objects in the 2BL and the 340 radio-loud QSOs with $`b_\mathrm{J}<20.00`$ and $`S_{1.4}>`$ 3.5mJy in the 2QZ is shown in Figs. 6 and 7. A KS test revealed no significant difference between the two populations.

For the one object in the 2BL sample with a measured redshift and documented NVSS flux density of 52.6mJy, we obtain a radio power $`P_{1.4}=2.5\times 10^{25}`$W Hz-1, and $`M_B=22.05`$ (using $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{m}=1`$, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$, $`H_0=50`$km s-1Mpc-1, $`\alpha _\mathrm{r}=0.5,\alpha _{\mathrm{opt}}=0.5`$). This value lies at the upper end of the range of 1.4 GHz radio powers calculated for the EMSS BL Lacs (Rector et al. 2000) which range from 4 $`\times 10^{23}`$W Hz-1 to 3 $`\times 10^{25}`$W Hz-1 using the same cosmology.

## 4 Basic properties of the 2BL

### 4.1 Colour distribution

In Fig. 8 we show the $`u`$-$`b_\mathrm{J}`$777u=U-0.24 (Smith et al. 2001), $`b_\mathrm{J}`$-$`r`$ colour distribution of 2BL sources. Open circles represent candidate BL Lacs with no radio detection, while filled circles denote those objects with a measured radio flux density ($`S_{1.4}>1.5`$mJy); asterisks represent the 18 objects which were found to have significant proper motion and subsequently removed from the sample. A 2-D KS test on the $`ub_\mathrm{J}`$/$`b_\mathrm{J}r`$ distributions of these 18 objects and the 56 objects in the 2BL sample returned a 95 per cent probability that the two distributions are different; this increased to 97 per cent if only those 2BL objects with $`<2\sigma `$ proper motions were considered.

As a comparison, the $`ub_\mathrm{J}`$/$`b_\mathrm{J}r`$ distribution of the 13 BL/BL? objects from the Veron & Veron-Cetty catalogue discussed in section 2.4 is plotted in Fig. 9.

Three of the four strong radio sources ($`S_{1.4GHz}>50`$ mJy) show evidence of an enhanced red component while still exhibiting a strong UV flux. A comparison with the colours of Galactic sub dwarfs (Fig. 10) shows that the 2BL is unlikely to be heavily contaminated by this population. Less than 10 per cent of the 2BL sample exhibit colours in the densely populated locus of the Galactic subdwarfs. The region populated by the DA white dwarfs identified in the 2QZ (see Croom et al. 2001) is also shown (Fig. 11). For a given $`ub_\mathrm{J}`$, the mean $`b_\mathrm{J}r`$ colour for 2BL objects is approximately 0.4 mag redder than that of the DA white dwarfs. A 2-D KS test on colour distributions of the 2BL objects and the 2QZ DA white dwarfs returned a $`>`$ 99.9 per cent probability that the two distributions are different. A similar 2-D KS test was carried out on the 56 2BL objects and the 10 BL/BL? objects from the Veron & Veron-Cetty catalogue that satisfy the 2QZ colour selection criteria (Fig. 9), but excluding the white dwarf. The test revealed no significant difference betwen the two distributions.

### 4.2 Optical $`n(b_\mathrm{J})`$ relation

The differential number magnitude, $`n(b_\mathrm{J})`$, relation for the 2BL is plotted in Figure 12. The $`n(b_\mathrm{J})`$ relation is normalised to the fractional number of objects with signal-to-noise ratio greater than 10 in each $`0.25`$mag bin:

$$n(b_\mathrm{J})=\frac{N_{\mathrm{obs}}(b_\mathrm{J})}{544\mathrm{deg}^2}\times \frac{N_{\mathrm{TOT}}(b_\mathrm{J})}{N_{\mathrm{snr}10}(b_\mathrm{J})}$$
(1)
as set out in Table 3.

Based on a weighted least squares fit of the 2BL $`n(b_\mathrm{J})`$ we measured a slope of $`n10^{0.66\pm 0.10m}`$. In order to check the robustness of the $`n(b_\mathrm{J})`$ relation against choice of signal-to-noise limit, we derived the $`n(b_\mathrm{J})`$ relation for the sample of 27 candidate 2BL objects with SNR $`>15`$. The best fit displayed an almost identical slope and normalization, $`n(b_\mathrm{J})10^{0.71\pm 0.24m}`$, to that obtained for the SNR $`10`$ sample. The steepness of the $`n(b_\mathrm{J})`$ relation is also robust against choice of survey magnitude limits; a least squares fit to only those points with $`b_\mathrm{J}<`$ 19.5 yielded a slope of 0.64 $`\pm `$ 0.25. Rejecting the 12 radio-quiet 2BL objects with proper motions of $`2\sigma 3\sigma `$ produced a slope of 0.68 $`\pm 0.09`$, hence almost identical to that of the full sample of 56 objects.

The $`n(b_\mathrm{J})`$ relation for all DA white dwarfs with SNR$`>15`$ in the 2QZ is plotted in Fig. 12. This SNR was chosen to ensure minimal contamination of the white dwarf sample by subdwarfs which can be increasingly confused with white dwarfs in the 2QZ sample for SNR$`<15`$ (Vennes et al., in preparation). The white dwarf $`n(b_\mathrm{J})`$ relation exhibits a slope of $`n10^{0.37\pm 0.07m}`$, significantly flatter than the $`n10^{0.66\pm 0.10m}`$ slope of the 2BL objects. Indeed, a minimum $`\chi ^2`$ fit between the $`n(b_\mathrm{J})`$ relations for the 2QZ white dwarf and 2BL samples reveals that they are different at the 99 per cent confidence level.

We also plot in figure 12 the re-normalised $`n(b_\mathrm{J})`$ relation for the 2QZ QSOs based on a minimum $`\chi ^2`$ fit to the 2BL counts. The $`\chi ^2`$ test confirms that the 2BL and re-normalised 2QZ $`n(b_\mathrm{J})`$ relations are consistent with each other, with a relative normalisation of 0.014.

### 4.3 Predicted redshift distribution

Given the similarity between the $`n(b_\mathrm{J})`$ relations for the 2BL sample and 2QZ QSOs, we used the evolutionary model derived for the latter to obtain a prediction of the redshift distribution for the 2BL. In doing this we assume that the vast majority of 2BL objects represent a sample of AGN with very weak or absent emission lines and hence exhibit the same evolutionary behaviour (Croom et al. 2001) and identical form of luminosity function (LF) to that obtained for the 2QZ QSOs (see Boyle et al. 2000). To give the observed total number objects in the 2BL we used a normalisation 0.015 times (consistent with the $`\chi ^2`$ fitting above of 0.014) that of the QSO LF (i.e. $`\mathrm{\Phi }_{2\mathrm{b}\mathrm{l}}^{}=1.65\times 10^8`$mag-1Mpc-3), with an identical break luminosity, $`M_{(z=0)}^{}=21.9`$. A $`\chi ^2`$ test confirmed that the predicted $`n(b_\mathrm{J})`$ relation based on this model (also plotted in Fig. 12) is consistent with the observed 2BL $`n(b_\mathrm{J})`$ relation.

The predicted number-redshift, $`n(z)`$, relation for the 2BL sample based on this model is shown in Fig. 13. In common with the QSOs at similar magnitudes ($`b_\mathrm{J}<20`$), the $`n(z)`$ relation is predicted to peak at $`z=1.6`$ with a median redshift of $`z=1.1`$. The decline in the $`n(z)`$ at higher redshifts results from a combination of factors: the depth of the sample, the slow-down in the QSO evolution rate at $`z>2`$ and the k-correction in the $`B`$-passband due to the Lyman $`\alpha `$ forest. The bimodal nature of the $`n(z)`$ relation is an artefact of the strong magnitude dependence of the areal coverage function in the 2BL.

If the extragalactic objects in the 2BL sample are distributed with this $`n(z)`$ relation it will be hard to obtain redshifts/unambiguous identifications for these objects from their optical spectra alone unless they exhibit intervening absorption line systems. Previously, many BL Lac redshifts have been based on spectroscopic features in the host galaxy (e.g CaII H&K, G band). The 2dF spectra on which the selection of the sample was based cover the region 3800–7800Å (with the region redward of 6800Å increasingly contaminated by night sky emission). If one requires both CaII H&K and the G band to be detected for a secure identification/redshift, then this would only be possible in the 2dF spectra for objects with $`z<0.5`$, less than 10 per cent of sample predicted by the $`n(z)`$ relation.

Nevertheless, the small number of tentative redshifts or lower limits on redshifts obtained for objects in the 2BL to date is certainly not inconsistent with the proposed redshift distribution (see Fig.13).

## 5 Discussion

The 2BL sample is a unique, optically selected sample of featureless continuum objects. Follow-up optical spectroscopy at higher resolution and SNR confirms the featureless nature of a subsample of these objects, while the broadband optical colours of these objects are inconsistent with Galactic subdwarfs. The steep $`n(b_\mathrm{J})`$ relation of this population implies strong cosmlogical evolution, consistent with that of QSOs and indicative of a population that is extragalactic in origin. Based on a QSO evolution model the median redshift of the sample is predicted to be $`z1.1`$. In all respects, other than their radio properties, the majority of the 2BL objects are consistent with the class of objects known as BL Lacs.

Hitherto there has been no large optically-selected sample of BL Lacs. Previously all BL Lacs have been initially identified by their radio or X-ray emission. Moreover, all the BL Lacs identified to date have shown strong radio emission. Indeed Stocke et al. (1990) have argued that there are no radio-quiet BL Lacs on the basis that all BL Lacs identified in the EMSS had radio flux densities of $`S_{5\mathrm{G}\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}}>1`$mJy.

Notably all five 2BL objects with X-ray detections (based on the $`ROSAT`$ All Sky Survey, RASS) are also milli-Jansky radio sources. The flux limit of the RASS ($`S_{0.12.4\mathrm{keV}}=8\times 10^{14}`$ erg s-1 cm-2) is equivalent to $`S_{0.33.5\mathrm{keV}}=6.2\times 10^{14}`$ erg s-1 cm-2 for an object with an X-ray spectrum of $`f_\nu \nu ^1`$, hence almost identical to the EMSS flux limit.

In Fig. 14 we plot the X-ray-to-optical $`\alpha _{\mathrm{ox}}`$ and radio-to-optical $`\alpha _{\mathrm{ro}}`$ flux ratio for the sample, where we have defined $`\alpha _{\mathrm{ro}}`$ as \[log($`S_{1.4}/f_{4400\mathrm{\AA }}`$)\]/5.7 and $`\alpha _{\mathrm{ox}}`$ as \[log($`f_{4400\mathrm{\AA }}/f_{2keV}`$)\]/2.85. In the absence of redshift information k-corrections have not been applied, however with $`\alpha _{opt}=\alpha _r=0.5`$ and $`\alpha _x=1`$ corrections at $`z=`$ 1.1 amount to less than $`0.05`$ for $`\alpha _{ox}`$. In common with Stocke et al. (1990) we find that our bright X-ray detected BL Lacs exhibit a narrow range in radio–optical spectral index, namely $`0.28<\alpha _{\mathrm{ro}}<0.53`$.

At the predicted median redshift of the 2BL ($`z=1.1`$), the $`5\sigma `$ 0.2 mJy detection limit of the VLA observations corresponds to an upper limit for the radio power of $`P_{1.4\mathrm{GHz}}1.7\times 10^{24}`$W Hz-1. This is still within the range of radio powers for the EMSS BL Lac sample observed by Rector et al. (2000). Thus high redshift BL Lacs with radio powers similar to those low redshift BL Lacs found by Rector et al. (2000) could still have evaded detection at deepest radio flux limits probed by our VLA observations. However, these high redshift objects would have a lower $`\alpha _{\mathrm{ro}}`$ than BL Lac objects observed to date, and would constitute a distinct population, occupying a different region of the $`\alpha _{\mathrm{ro}}\alpha _{\mathrm{ox}}`$ plane to that of hitherto known BL Lac objects. The continuum emission mechanism that would produce such radio-weak objects is unclear; these objects may simply be a class of lineless QSOs with an optical continuum mechanism (e.g. hot accretion disk) very different to that producing the optical radiation in objects hitherto identified as BL Lacs.

While the nature of the 2BL objects with no detectable radio emission remains uncertain, it appears that those objects with radio detections are bona fide BL Lacs, and are some of the optically faintest BL Lacs detected to date. In addition, of the 11 or 12 2BL objects that have redshift information (and hence appear to be extragalactic), 10 are at a redshift greater than 0.6, a region generally thought to be sparsely populated by BL Lac objects.

If the radio-quiet objects are not AGN, then the question remains as to their nature. If they are DC white dwarfs, or indeed any class of Galactic star, then there is perhaps an even greater puzzle in explaining the steep $`n(b_\mathrm{J})`$ relation. Further observations of the 2BL sample including infrared photometry and spectroscopy (to attempt to detect the host galaxy) and/or variability and polarisation studies may help to resolve their identity.

## Acknowledgements

The 2QZ is based on observations made with the Anglo-Australian Telescope and the UK Schmidt Telescope; we would like to thank our colleagues on the 2dF galaxy redshift survey team and all the staff at the AAT who have helped to make this survey possible. We thank the anonymous referee for a careful scrutiny of the manuscript and his/her insightful comments which have greatly improved the contents and clarity of the paper. DL thanks the School of Physics at the University of Sydney for a Postgraduate (Mature Age) Scholarship.

## Appendix A 2dF spectra


text:
# NEGATIVE SPECIFIC HEAT IN OUT-OF-EQUILIBRIUM NONEXTENSIVE SYSTEMS

## I  INTRODUCTION

In the last years there has been an increasing interest in phase transitions occurring in systems of finite size. Nuclear multifragmentation phase transition is only one of the most interesting examples . There has also been a lively debate in the literature on how to detect unambiguously the occurrence of a phase transition in small systems. An interesting proposal has been the measurement of negative specific heat . Recently several experiments have found this signal not only in nuclei \[3 \], but also in atomic clusters . The point we want to stress here is that in standard Bolzmann-Gibbs (BG) thermodynamics, which is based on extensive systems, i.e. systems for which energy and the entropy are proportional to N, the specific heat can never be negative . However several theoretical pioneering investigations have demonstrated that such a property is violated, in the microcanonical ensemble, for nonextensive systems , i.e. for long-range interactions (Coulomb and gravitational forces), but also for finite-size systems with short-range interaction. From these studies, the application of BG statistics seems to remain valid for some nonextensive systems, if the microcanonical ensemble is used, although an inequivalence of ensembles remains also in the thermodynamic limit . A different approach to tackle nonextensive systems has been proposed by Tsallis in 1988  . Tsallis generalized statistics, which contains the BG formalism as a particular case, has found since then an increasing and successful amount of applications in several fields. The main validity of this approach has been found for physical situations where out-of-equilibrium phenomena, long-range corre-lations, long-term memory effects and anomalous fluctuations are observed . Recently the appearance of a negative specific heat has been numerically observed in correspondence to a metastable long-lasting regime, where Tsallis formalism and not the BG one seems to apply \[10-14\]. Hot nuclear compound systems, formed in high energy heavy-ion reactions, are nonextensive systems, therefore  the above mentioned results suggest that one should be very careful in applying standard equilibrium BG thermodynamics in such a fast dynamical phenomenon like multi-fragmentation. Even a small deviation from equilibrium could prevent the application of the BG formalism. In this short contribution, we briefly discuss some recent numerical simulations of a nonextensive system, the Hamiltonian Mean Field (HMF) model, which illustrate the occurrence of a negative specific only in a transient out-of-equilibrium regime . This model is not a peculiar exceptional example and its anomalous behavior should be a strong warning against a simple and straightforward extrapolation of an equilibrium phase transition signature, in finite nonextensive systems, when measuring a negative specific heat. The paper is organized as follows: we introduce the model in section II, numerical simulations are presented in section III and conclusion are drawn in section IV.

## II  THE MODEL HAMILTONIAN

Our arguments are based on the following system of N fully-coupled classical rotators, whose Hamiltonian is given by

$$H=K+V=\underset{i=1}{\overset{N}{}}\frac{p_{i}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}{2}+\frac{1}{2N}\underset{i,j=1}{\overset{N}{}}[1cos(\theta _i\theta _j)],$$
(1)
where $`\theta _i`$ is the the angle and $`p_i`$ is the corresponding conjugate momentum. The canonical analytical solution of the model predicts a second-order phase transition, whose order parameter is the total magnetization M, given by the averaged sum over the spin vectors $`𝐦_i=(cos\theta _i,sin\theta _i)`$ , i.e.

$$𝐌=\frac{1}{N}\underset{i=1}{\overset{N}{}}𝐦_i.$$
(2)
For small energies the absolute value of the magnetization is $`M1`$ , while for energies greater than the critical value $`T_c=0.5(U_c=E_c/N=0.75)`$ , we have $`M0`$ . The equilibrium caloric curve has been derived in ref  and is given by the expression for the energy density

$$U=E/N=\frac{T}{2}+\frac{1}{2}\left(1M^2\right),$$
(3)
T being the temperature. So it is very interesting to compare the exact canonical solution (3) with numerical microcanonical simulations. Moreover, due to the long-range nature of the interaction, this system is nonextensive. Thus the model is of extreme interest also from a fundamental point of view, for statistical mechanics, whose standard Bolzmann-Gibbs text-books formulation is based on the extensive and thus additive properties of energy and entropy. For these reasons the model has been intensively and extensively studied in the last years \[10-11,15,16\]. It has also been slightly modified to understand the influence of the range of the interaction . Finite-size effects, chaotic dynamics and superdiffusion have been investigated in detail for the HMF model \[10-11,15,16\]. But an important point which has also been particularly studied is the relaxation to equilibrium: in fact, when out-of-equilibrium initial conditions are considered, the model presents a very slow and anomalous dynamical behavior, in a energy range below the critical point. In the following we will focus our attention mainly to this out-of-equilibrium regime before relaxation, discussing its eventual relevance for nuclear multifragmentation experiments.

## III  NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS

We present in this section some numerical simulations which show the interesting transient dynamical behavior of the HMF model. In fig.1a we plot the equilibrium caloric curve (3) (full line) in correspondence of two numerical results, for N=10000 and 100000 (open circles and squares), before complete equilibration, corresponding to a time t=1200. The time step used was 0.2. The points which mostly disagree with the equilibrium curve are in the energy range $`0.5U0.75`$, below the critical energy density, indicated as a dashed vertical line. In this region, a complete equilibration is generally obtained only after 106-107 time-steps, according to the size of the system, see ref. for more technical details about the integration scheme.

In order to study the dynamics of this slow relaxation, we fix a particular energy density, i.e. U=0.69, and we plot in fig.1b the quantity $`2<K>/N`$ as a function of time, $`<K>`$ being the average kinetic energy. The simulations display a plateau for a long transient time which does not correspond to the equilibrium value $`T_{eq}=0.476`$ , also reported as a dashed red line. The system is trapped in a quasi-stationary state (QSS), whose whose lifetime increases with N . The quantity $`2<K>/N`$ coincides with the temperature if a stationary situation exists, thus we can refer to the plateau values as the N-dependent temperatures of the quasi-stationary states (QSS). The relaxation is reached, as the plot shows, only after a long time, which increases linearly with N. Also the QSS temperature depends on the size and converge to the infinite size value $`T_{\mathrm{}}=0.38`$ as a power-law.

In fig.2 we show the initial time evolution of $`2<K>/N`$ to display the fast collapse of the initial condition to the metastable regime. We start our simulations by considering the so-called water-bag initial conditions , i.e. putting all the angles at zero and distributing the total energy uniformly over the momenta. The figure shows that there is a rapid evolution, which is not size-dependent, towards the QSS state. In ref. , we have also checked that these simulations are not affected by the numerical accuracy of the integration scheme used. This is certainly true in the range explored, with a relative error $`10^7<\mathrm{\Delta }E/E<10^3`$, and demonstrates the robustness of these metastable QSS against small perturbations . At this point, it is interesting to calculate the specific heat in correspondence of this slow relaxation in the energy region below the critical point. The specific heat can be calculated from the fluctuations of kinetic energy, by using the microcanonical formulas derived in the 60’s by Lebowitz, Percus and Verlet (LPV formula) , i.e.

$$C_V=\frac{1}{2}\left[12\left(\frac{\mathrm{\Sigma }}{T}\right)^2\right]^1$$
(4)
T being the microcanonical temperature and $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ the kinetic energy microcanonical fluctuation. A second alternative is another formula which was derived more recently by Pearson, Haliciouglu and Tiller (PHT formula) . The latter should be more precise, because it takes into account finite-size effects and is given by

$$C_V=\left[2<K><K>^1+N(1<K><K>^1)\right]^1.$$
(5)
We report in fig.3 the specific heat calculated according to the eqs. (4) and (5) for N=500 and U=0.69. The figure shows a very similar time evolution for both formulas: after some oscillations, in which the specific heat is negative, both numerical simulations converge towards the same correct equilibrium positive value , also indicated as a dashed line. Let us now focus our attention on the transient regime, where the specific heat is negative. We have found that, in the transient QSS regime, the system does not show a Gaussian velocity probability distribution, while for longer integration times, when the system finally relaxes

to the equilibrium temperature, the velocity probability distribution (pdf) is perfectly Gaussian . This result is nicely illustrated in fig.4. There we plot the numerical simulations for the caloric curve and the velocity pdfs both in the transient case, yellow circles in panels (c) and (a), and in the equilibrium case, white circles in panels (d) and (b). A back-bending of the HMF caloric curve in the transient regime clearly coincides with a non-Gaussian shape of the velocity pdf. In particular pdf tails are missing and slow decaying velocity correlations are present. One can also show that the velocity pdfs are frozen in this anomalous distribution for all the duration of the metastable regime. This result can be easily understood since the force, which each spin feels, is almost zero in the QSS regime. In fact the force on the single spin is given by the formula $`F_i=M_xsin\theta _i+M_ycos\theta _i`$, where $`M_x`$ and $`M_y`$ are the components of the magnetization vector. Thus being $`M^2=0`$ in the QSS regime, it follows that also $`F_i=0`$ . The system is attracted by the QSS state and then remains in a frozen state. Why it then relaxes to the BG equilibrium? The answer is simple. If the system size is finite, the magnetization is not exactly zero, a small noise ($`O\frac{1}{\sqrt{N}}`$) always exists and this is responsible for the final relaxation to the BG equilibrium regime. The bigger the size, the smaller is the noise and thus the longer is the lifetime of the QSS state as numerically found . This fact implies the interesting result that, if one inverts the order of the limits, i.e. takes first the infinite size limit instead of the infinite time limit, the noise is perfectly zero and the system remains trapped in the QSS state for ever. In  we have shown that the formalism proposed by Tsallis  seems to explain the shape of the velocity pdfs.

4 CONCLUSIONS

Summarizing,we have shown an example of a nonextensive system where a negative specific heat is found in correspondence to quasi-stationary states (QSS) and non-Gaussian velocity pdfs. This result which has been recently confirmed also in other long-range interacting models such as self-gravitating systems  and modified Lennard-Jones potentials  is due to the nonextensivity nature of the system into exam . This fact is a serious warning for a straightforward claiming of a standard equilibrium first-order phase transition in nuclear fragmenting systems. Although some sort of equilibration seems to be reached in multifragmentation, it is not certain whether this corresponds to a complete relaxation. We stress the fact that the temperature deviation from its equilibrium value, we have discussed so far, is only of the order of 10% ! In this respect more detailed investigations should be done in order to further clarify the general theoretical scenario for nonextensive systems. But also more precise experimental data are very welcome and could be extremely useful to understand deeper the intriguing nature of phase transitions in finite systems, a field surely at the frontier of modern statistical mechanics.

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