Quasar evolution derived from the Palomar bright quasar survey and other complete quasar surveys.

The authors present the Bright Quasar Survey (BQS) consisting of 114 objects to an average limiting magnitude B = 16.16 over an area of 10,714 deg². There are 92 quasars with M_B < -23 in the sample. The BQS and complete samples from published surveys are used to derive models of the statistical evolution of quasars. The increase of space density with redshift depends strongly on absolute luminosity, being close to zero for low-luminosity quasars. Detailed predictions are given for the distribution of redshifts and magnitudes and for the total counts based on the evolution models.