Preliminary Target Selection for the DESI Quasar (QSO) Sample

Abstract

The DESI survey will measure large-scale structure using quasars as direct tracers of dark matter in the redshift range $0.9<z<2.1$ and using quasar Ly-$α$ forests at $z>2.1$. We present two methods to select candidate quasars for DESI based on imaging in three optical ($g, r, z$) and two infrared ($W1, W2$) bands. The first method uses traditional color cuts and the second utilizes a machine-learning algorithm.