Description
The evolution of the quasar luminosity function (QLF) is one of the basic cosmological measures providing insight into structure formation and mass assembly in the universe. We have conducted a spectroscopic survey to find faint quasars (-26.0<M_1450_<-22.0) at redshifts z=3.8-5.2 in order to measure the faint end of the QLF at these early times. Using available optical imaging data from portions of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey and the Deep Lens Survey, we have color-selected quasar candidates in a total area of 3.76deg^2^. Thirty candidates have R<=23mag. We conducted spectroscopic follow-up for 28 of our candidates and found 23 QSOs, 21 of which are reported here for the first time, in the 3.74<z<5.06 redshift range.
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