Quasar Metal Abundances and Host Galaxy Evolution

High-redshift quasars provide a unique glimpse into the early evolution of massive galaxies. The physical processes that trigger major bursts of star formation in quasar host galaxies (mergers and interactions) probably also funnel gas into the central regions to grow the super-massive black holes (SMBHs) and ignite the luminous quasar phenomenon. The globally dense environments where this occurs were probably also among the first to collapse and manufacture stars in significant numbers after the big bang. Measurements of the elemental abundances near quasars place important constraints on the nature, timing and extent of this star formation. A variety of studies using independent emission and absorption line diagnostics have shown that quasar environments have gas-phase metallicities that are typically a few times solar at all observed redshifts. These results are consistent with galaxy evolution scenarios in which large amounts of star formation (e.g., in the central regions) precede the visibly bright quasar phase. An observed trend for higher metallicities in more luminmous quasars (powered by more massive SMBHs) is probably tied to the well-known mass-metallicity relation among ordinary galaxies. This correlation and the absence of a trend with redshift indicate that mass is a more important parameter in the evolution than the time elapsed since the big bang.