A re-analysis of the spectrum of 2206-199

Recently Pettini, Hunstead, Smith and Mar, (PHSM 1991) performed an analysis of the Ly-alpha forest of QSO 2206-199N at very high resolution. On the basis of their observations they concluded that most Doppler parameters b = (square root of 2)(sigma) of Ly-alpha forest lines are below 22 km/s, with a range down to a few km/s and a median of 17 km/s. They also found a strong intrinsic correlation between Doppler parameter b and column density N. These results are in contrast to those of a similar study by Carswell, Lanzetta, Parnell, and Webb (CLPW 1991) at comparable resolution with the same instruments, who find that most of the Ly-alpha lines towards QSO 1100-264 have Doppler parameters above 15 km/s (median b = 34 km/s), and that there is no significant correlation between b and N. Whilst an intrinsic difference between the lines of sight to 2206-199 and to other QSO's can not be excluded a priori, previous disagreement between Doppler parameter estimates obtained by both groups pointed to a potential difference in estimation techniques and in the interpretation of the results. To investigate this possibility, the AAT/UCLES spectrum of 2206-199 obtained by PHSM were reanalyzed. The spectrum was extracted from the raw data and determined the line parameters using the method described by CLPW

Triple-ionised carbon associated with the low-density neutral hydrogen gas at 1.7 < z < 3.3: the integrated N(HI)-N(CIV) relation

From the Voigt profile fitting analysis of 183 intervening CIV systems at 1.7 < z < 3.3 in 23 high-quality UVES/VLT and HIRES/Keck QSO spectra, we find that a majority of CIV systems (~75%) display a well-characterised scaling relation between integrated column densities of HI and CIV with a negligible redshift evolution, when column densities of all the HI and CIV components are integrated within a given (-150, +150) km/sec range centred at the CIV flux minimum. The integrated CIV column density N(CIV, sys) increases with N(HI, sys) at log N(HI, sys) = 14.0--15.5 and log N(CIV, sys) = 11.8--14.0, then becomes almost independent of N(HI, sys) at log N(HI, sys) > 16, with a large scatter: at log N(HI, sys) = 14--22, log N(CIV, sys) = C1 / (log(NHI, sys) + C2) + C3, with C1 = -1.90+0.55, C2 = -14.11+0.19 and C3 = 14.76+0.17, respectively. The steep (flat) part is dominated by SiIV-free (SiIV-enriched) CIV systems. Extrapolating the N(HI, sys)-N(CIV, sys) relation implies that most absorbers with log N(HI) < 14 are virtually CIV-free. The N(HI, sys)-N(CIV, sys) relation does not hold for individual components, clumps or the integration velocity range less than +-100 km/sec. It is expected if the line-of-sight extent of CIV is smaller than HI and N(CIV, sys) decreases more rapidly than N(HI, sys) at the larger impact parameter, regardless of the location of the HI+CIV gas in the IGM filaments or in the intervening galactic halos.Comment: Accepted for publication on MNRAS, 26 pages, 20 figures, 4 tables. On-line materials are found in the submitted civ.tar.gz file: complete Table 2, complete Table 3, complete Table 4, velocity plots civ1.pdf, civ2.pdf, civ3.pdf, civ4.pdf and civ5.pd

Modeling the Void H I Column Density Spectrum

The equivalent width distribution function (EWDF) of \hone absorbers specific to the void environment has been recently derived (Manning 2002), revealing a large line density of clouds (dN/dz ~500 per unit z for Log (N_HI)> 12.4). I show that the void absorbers cannot be diffuse (or so-called filamentary) clouds, expanding with the Hubble flow, as suggested by N-body/hydro simulations. Absorbers are here modeled as the baryonic remnants of sub-galactic perturbations that have expanded away from their dark halos in response to reionization at z ~ 6.5. A 1-D Lagrangian hydro/gravity code is used to follow the dynamic evolution and ionization structure of the baryonic clouds for a range of halo circular velocities. The simulation products at z=0 can be combined according to various models of the halo velocity distribution function to form a column density spectrum that can be compared with the observed. I find that such clouds may explain the observed EWDF if the halo velocity distribution function is as steep as that advanced by Klypin (1999), and the halo mass distribution is closer to isothermal than to NFW.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures. Paper in press; ApJ 591, n

A High Deuterium Abundance at z=0.7

Of the light elements, the primordial abundance of deuterium, (D/H)_p, provides the most sensitive diagnostic for the cosmological mass density parameter Omega_B. Recent high redshift (D/H) measurements are highly discrepant, although this may reflect observational uncertainties. The larger (D/H) values, which imply a low Omega_B and require the Universe to be dominated by non-baryonic matter (dynamical studies indicate a higher total density parameter), cause problems for galactic chemical evolution models since they have difficulty in reproducing the large decline down to the lower present-day (D/H). Conversely, low (D/H) values imply an Omega_B greater than derived from ^7Li and ^4He abundance measurements, and may require a deuterium abundance evolution that is too low to easily explain. Here we report the first measurement at intermediate redshift, where the observational difficulties are smaller, of a gas cloud with ideal characteristics for this experiment. Our analysis of the z = 0.7010 absorber toward 1718+4807 indicates (D/H) = 2.0 +/- 0.5 x 10^{-4} which is in the high range. This and other independent observations suggests there may be a cosmological inhomogeneity in (D/H)_p of at least a factor of ten.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur

Geometrical Effects of Baryon Density Inhomogeneities on Primordial Nucleosynthesis

We discuss effects of fluctuation geometry on primordial nucleosynthesis. For the first time we consider condensed cylinder and cylindrical-shell fluctuation geometries in addition to condensed spheres and spherical shells. We find that a cylindrical shell geometry allows for an appreciably higher baryonic contribution to be the closure density (\Omega_b h_{50}^2 \la 0.2) than that allowed in spherical inhomogeneous or standard homogeneous big bang models. This result, which is contrary to some other recent studies, is due to both geometry and recently revised estimates of the uncertainties in the observationally inferred primordial light-element abundances. We also find that inhomogeneous primordial nucleosynthesis in the cylindrical shell geometry can lead to significant Be and B production. In particular, a primordial beryllium abundance as high as [Be] = 12 + log(Be/H) $\approx -3$ is possible while still satisfying all of the light-element abundance constraints.Comment: Latex, 20 pages + 11 figures(not included). Entire ps file with embedded figures available via anonymous ftp at ftp://genova.mtk.nao.ac.jp/pub/prepri/bbgeomet.ps.g

Possible evidence for an inverted temperature-density relation in the intergalactic medium from the flux distribution of the Lyman-alpha forest

We compare the improved measurement of the Lya forest flux probability distribution at 1.7<z<3.2 presented by Kim et al. (2007) to a large set of hydrodynamical simulations of the Lya forest with different cosmological parameters and thermal histories. The simulations are in good agreement with the observational data if the temperature-density relation for the low density intergalactic medium (IGM), T=T_0 Delta^{gamma-1}, is either close to isothermal or inverted (gamma<1). Our results suggest that the voids in the IGM may be significantly hotter and the thermal state of the low density IGM may be substantially more complex than is usually assumed at these redshifts. We discuss radiative transfer effects which alter the spectral shape of ionising radiation during the epoch of HeII reionisation as a possible physical mechanism for achieving an inverted temperature-density relation at z~3.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS following minor revision. The accepted version includes an expanded discussion of the flux power spectru

Participatory research to design a novel system to support the night-time needs of people with dementia; NOCTURNAL

Strategies to support people living with dementia are broad in scope, proposing both pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions as part of the care pathway. Assistive technologies form part of this offering as both stand-alone devices to support particular tasks and the more complex offering of the “smart home” to underpin ambient assisted living. This paper presents a technology-based system, which expands on the smart home architecture, orientated to support people with daily living. The system, NOCTURNAL, was developed by working directly with people who had dementia, and their carers using qualitative research methods. The research focused primarily on the nighttime needs of people living with dementia in real home settings. Eight people with dementia had the final prototype system installed for a three month evaluation at home. Disturbed sleep patterns, night-time wandering were a focus of this research not only in terms of detection by commercially available technology but also exploring if automated music, light and visual personalized photographs would be soothing to participants during the hours of darkness. The NOCTURNAL platform and associated services was informed by strong user engagement of people with dementia and the service providers who care for them. NOCTURNAL emerged as a holistic service offering a personalised therapeutic aspect with interactive capabilities

The Primordial Abundance of He4: An Update

We include new data in an updated analysis of helium in low metallicity extragalactic HII regions with the goal of deriving the primordial abundance of He4 (Y_P). We show that the new observations of Izotov et al (ITL) are consistent with previous data. However they should not be taken in isolation to determine (Y_P) due to the lack of sufficiently low metallicity points. We use the extant data in a semi-empirical approach to bounding the size of possible systematic uncertainties in the determination of (Y_P). Our best estimate for the primordial abundance of He4 assuming a linear relation between He4 and O/H is Y_P = 0.230 \pm 0.003 (stat) based on the subset of HII regions with the lowest metallicity; for our full data set we find Y_P = 0.234 \pm 0.002 (stat). Both values are entirely consistent with our previous results. We discuss the implications of these values for standard big bang nucleosynthesis (SBBN), particularly in the context of recent measurements of deuterium in high redshift, low metallicity QSO absorption-line systems.Comment: 26 pages, latex, 6 ps figure