CANADA FRANCE REDSHIFT SURVEY .10. THE QUASAR SAMPLE

Six objects with broad emission lines and redshifts from 0.48 to 2.07 were discovered among 736 extragalactic objects in the Canada-France R edshift Survey (CFRS). Although the luminosities of half of the object s are such that they are in the Seyfert regime (M(B) > -23), all would be designated as quasars in traditional surveys. Since the only selec tion criterion was that 17.5 <less than or equal to I-AB less than or equal to 22.5, or approximately B < 23 (assuming a continuum power-law slope alpha = -0.5), these quasars represent an unbiased, flux-limite d sample. Although uncertain, the implied surface density, 200(-80)(+1 20) deg(-2), is the highest yet measured, and is in good agreement wit h extrapolations from other faint surveys and the evolving luminosity function models of Boyle. The distributions of the continuum propertie s, emission-line strengths, etc. of the quasars do not differ signific antly from those of quasars selected by other means, and therefore the y would have been detected in most traditional surveys. Three of the q uasars may be associated with clusters or large structures of galaxies at z > 1.