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B. J. Wills (Univ. Texas, Austin), A. Laor (Technion, Haifa), M. S. Brotherton (IGGP, LLNL), D. Wills, Zhaohui Shang (Univ. Texas, Austin), B. J. Wilkes (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), G. J. Ferland (Univ. Kentucky)
The UV to soft X-rays of luminous AGNs dominate their bolometric luminosity, driven by an accretion-powered dynamo at the center. These photons illuminate the surrounding gas, providing clues to fueling and exhaust. Two sets of important relationships -- neither of them understood -- link the continuum and gas properties. These are the Baldwin relations between equivalent width and luminosity, and the so-called `Eigenvector 1' relationships linking steeper X-ray spectra with narrower BLR H\beta and stronger Fe\,II (optical), and weaker NLR [O\,III]\lambda5007 emission (Boroson & Green 1992, Laor et al. 1994, 1997). These relationships plausibly link the central engine with structure, dynamics and physical conditions in sub-parsec to Kiloparsec scale gas. In order to investigate these relationships further we study the links between optical and ultraviolet emission lines, and the UV and soft-X-ray ionizing continuum. We have obtained HST UV and McDonald ground-based spectra for a unique sample -- a complete sample of PG QSOs chosen for low redshift and low Galactic reddening by Laor et al. (1994) in order to obtain high-quality information on the ionizing continuum. We show that the above eigenvector 1 relationships extend to many properties of the UV spectrum.
We present examples of the new set of correlations, and speculate that a starburst origin for a component of QSO gas might explain its geometry, abundances and density. The link with dynamics and UV--X-ray SED suggests that this gas is fueling the accretion-driven central engine.