Rest-frame optical properties of luminous, radio-selected, broad
  absorption line quasars
  We have obtained IRTF/SpeX spectra of eight moderate-redshift (z=0.7-2.4),
radio-selected (log R*~0.4-1.9) broad absorption line (BAL) quasars. The
spectra cover the rest-frame optical band. We compare the optical properties of
these quasars to those of canonically radio-quiet (log R*<1) BAL quasars at
similar redshifts and to low-redshift quasars from the Palomar-Green catalog.
As with previous studies of BAL quasars, we find that [OIII] 5007 is weak, and
optical FeII emission is strong, a rare combination in canonically radio-loud
(log R*>1) quasars. With our measurements of the optical properties,
particularly the Balmer emission line widths and the continuum luminosity, we
have used empirical scaling relations to estimate black hole masses and
Eddington ratios. These lie in the range (0.4-2.6)x10^9 M_sun and 0.1-0.9,
respectively. Despite their comparatively extreme radio properties relative to
most BAL quasars, their optical properties are quite consistent with those of
radio-quiet BAL quasars and dissimilar to those of radio-loud non-BAL quasars.
While BAL quasars generally appear to have low values of [OIII]/FeII, an
extreme of "Eigenvector 1", the Balmer line widths and Eddington ratios do not
appear to significantly differ from those of unabsorbed quasars at similar
redshifts and luminosities.
