COSMOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF A LARGE COMPLETE QUASAR SAMPLE

Objective and reproducible determinations of the probabilistic signifi cance levels of the deviations between theoretical cosmological predic tion and direct model-independent observation are made for the Large B right Quasar Sample [Foltz, C., Chaffee, F. H., Hewett, P. C., MacAlpi ne, G. M., Turnshek, D. A., et al. (1987) Astron. J. 94, 1423-1460]. T he Expanding Universe model as represented by the Friedman-Lemaitre co smology with parameters q(o) = 0, Lambda = 0 denoted as C1 and chronom etric cosmology (no relevant adjustable parameters) denoted as C2 are the cosmologies considered. The mean and the dispersion of the apparen t magnitudes and the slope of the apparent magnitude-redshift relation are the directly observed statistics predicted. The C1 predictions of these cosmology-independent quantities are deviant by as much as 11 s igma from direct observation; none of the C2 predictions deviate by >2 sigma. The C1 deviations may be reconciled with theory by the hypothe sis of quasar ''evolution,'' which, however, appears incapable of bein g substantiated through direct observation. The excellent quantitative agreement of the C1 deviations with those predicted by C2 without adj ustable parameters for the results of analysis predicated on C1 indica tes that the evolution hypothesis may well be a theoretical artifact.