On the XMM-Newton spectra of soft X-ray selected QSOs

We study the XMM-Newton spectra of a sample of 32 soft X-ray selected QSOs. Our goal is to check, using the spectra of moderate redshift (z ~ 1.5), faint (f_0.2-8 keV>5x 10^-15 erg cm^-2 s^-1) broad-line QSOs, previous claims for either significant intrinsic absorption or spectral hardening at high energies. We derive hardness ratios for all sources and furthermore we perform spectral fits for the 11 brighter sources. The majority of sources have steep spectra Gamma >1.9. We find a few QSOs with large amounts of intrinsic absorption, as high as N_H ~ 10²³ cm^-2. We find no strong evidence for spectral hardening above 2 keV. The coadded QSO spectrum is well described by a single power-law with photon index of ~ 1.9, demonstrating that, on average, any effects of absorption are not important. This suggests that the discrepancy between the X-ray background and the (soft X-ray selected) QSO spectrum holds well at the faint fluxes probed here.