Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: Interacting quasar pairs (QPs, either dual or binary) provide crucial insights into galaxy mergers, black hole growth, and large-scale structure formation. The current literature reports fewer than 200 spectroscopically confirmed QPs, highlighting the need for larger samples to enable statistically meaningful investigations. In this paper, we present a sample of 1,220 quasar pairs or candidates compiled from the DESI DR1 quasar sample. Among them, 145 systems have been previously reported. We visually classified the full sample using DESI Legacy Images and SPARCL spectra into three categories: QP (quasar pairs, N = 1020), QPC (quasar pair candidates, N = 142), LQC (lensed quasar candidates, N = 58). Within the LQC subset, we find an intriguing wide-separation ($\sim$7.15$^{\prime\prime}$) quadruply lensed quasar candidate. The redshift distribution of pair sample peaks at $z \sim 1$--$2.5$, with an overall pair fraction of $6.2^{+0.2}_{-0.2}\times10^{-4}$ (Poisson error) and a generally weak redshift dependence. 63.8\% of QPs have $|ΔV_r| < 600$\,km/s, suggesting dynamical associations. This sample offers a statistically meaningful dataset for future studies of quasar pairs, lensing events, and potentially merger-triggered or merger-induced SMBH growth across the merger sequence.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Jing, Liang, Chen, Qihang, Deng, Zhuojun, Zhu, Xingyu, Zou, Hu, Xia, Jun-Qing, Wu, Jianghua
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Office of Science, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Division of Astronomical Sciences, High Energy Physics, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Awards: G1079818582, G1143651532, G1286236842, G1813527838, G1863003419, G2929489430, G3059499108, G3083819904, G3279832295, G3476331522, G419881185, G42916606, G4501827968, G498139845, G6217448592, G6478540029, G704498496, Management and Operations of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, G7354628648, G759921648, G7647521091, G7760570349, G969889393
OpenAlex ID: W4415246783
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