C IV Broad Absorption Line Variability in QSO spectra from SDSS I-III Surveys

We present the results of our study of C IV broad absorption line (BAL) variability in the spectra of more than 1500 QSO’s from several SDSS I-III surveys. Absorption lines in QSO spectra are due to outflowing winds which originate from the accretion disk, at a distance on the order of 1/100 - 1/10 pc from the central  super-massive black hole (SMBH). Winds trigger the accretion mechanism onto  the SMBH removing angular momentum from the disk and, since they evacuate gas from the host galaxy, they are believed to play a fundamental role in galaxy evolution.
Absorption lines can be classified on the basis of their width and of the observed transitions, and their equivalent width can change on timescales from months to years, due to variations in the covering factor and/or in the ionization level. We analyzed the largest sample ever used for such kind of studies. We find that the fraction of disappearing BALs is three times larger than the one found in previous works. Strong evidence is found for a coordinated variability in spectra with multiple BAL troughs which may be interpreted in terms of disk-wind rotation, and/or variations in the physical status of the shielding gas. We also find that, in spectra with multiple BAL troughs, the disappearing ones are generally those with the highest central velocity.