404 research outputs found
The Evolution of Optical Depth in the Ly-alpha Forest: Evidence Against Reionization at z~6
We examine the evolution of the IGM Ly-alpha optical depth distribution using
the transmitted flux probability distribution function (PDF) in a sample of 63
QSOs spanning absorption redshifts 1.7 < z < 5.8. The data are compared to two
theoretical optical depth distributions: a model distribution based on the
density distribution of Miralda-Escude et al. (2000) (MHR00), and a lognormal
distribution. We assume a uniform UV background and an isothermal IGM for the
MHR00 model, as has been done in previous works. Under these assumptions, the
MHR00 model produces poor fits to the observed flux PDFs at redshifts where the
optical depth distribution is well sampled, unless large continuum corrections
are applied. However, the lognormal optical depth distribution fits the data at
all redshifts with only minor continuum adjustments. We use a simple
parametrization for the evolution of the lognormal parameters to calculate the
expected mean transmitted flux at z > 5.4. The lognormal optical depth
distribution predicts the observed Ly-alpha and Ly-beta effective optical
depths at z > 5.7 while simultaneously fitting the mean transmitted flux down
to z = 1.6. If the evolution of the lognormal distribution at z < 5 reflects a
slowly-evolving density field, temperature, and UV background, then no sudden
change in the IGM at z ~ 6 due to late reionization appears necessary. We have
used the lognormal optical depth distribution without any assumption about the
underlying density field. If the MHR00 density distribution is correct, then a
non-uniform UV background and/or IGM temperature may be required to produce the
correct flux PDF. We find that an inverse temperature-density relation greatly
improves the PDF fits, but with a large scatter in the equation of state index.
[Abridged]Comment: 45 pages, 16 figures, submitted to Ap
Anisotropic Galactic Outflows and Enrichment of the Intergalactic Medium. I: Monte Carlo Simulations
We have developed an analytical model to describe the evolution of
anisotropic galactic outflows. With it, we investigate the impact of varying
opening angle on galaxy formation and the evolution of the IGM. We have
implemented this model in a Monte Carlo algorithm to simulate galaxy formation
and outflows in a cosmological context. Using this algorithm, we have simulated
the evolution of a comoving volume of size [12h^(-1)Mpc]^3 in the LCDM
universe. Starting from a Gaussian density field at redshift z=24, we follow
the formation of ~20,000 galaxies, and simulate the galactic outflows produced
by these galaxies. When these outflows collide with density peaks, ram pressure
stripping of the gas inside the peak may result. This occurs in around half the
cases and prevents the formation of galaxies. Anisotropic outflows follow the
path of least resistance, and thus travel preferentially into low-density
regions, away from cosmological structures (filaments and pancakes) where
galaxies form. As a result, the number of collisions is reduced, leading to the
formation of a larger number of galaxies. Anisotropic outflows can
significantly enrich low-density systems with metals. Conversely, the
cross-pollution in metals of objects located in a common cosmological
structure, like a filament, is significantly reduced. Highly anisotropic
outflows can travel across cosmological voids and deposit metals in other,
unrelated cosmological structures.Comment: 32 pages, 9 figures (2 color). Revised version accepted in Ap
Tidal Disruption of Protoclusters in Giant Molecular Clouds
We study the collapse of protoclusters within a giant molecular cloud (GMC)
to determine the conditions under which collapse is significantly disrupted.
Motivated by observations of star forming regions which exhibit flattened cloud
structures, this study considers collapsing protoclusters with disk geometries.
The collapse of a 10^3 Msun protocluster initially a distance of 2-10 pc from a
10^3 - 10^6 Msun point mass is numerically calculated. Simulations with zero
initial relative velocity between the two are completed as well as simulations
with relative velocities consistent with those observed in GMCs. The results
allow us to define the conditions under which it is safe to assume protocluster
collapse proceeds as if in isolation. For instance, we find the collapse of a
10^3 Msun protocluster will be significantly disrupted if it is within 2-4 pc
of a 10^4 Msun point mass. Thus, the collapse of a 10^3 Msun protocluster can
be considered to proceed as if in isolation if it is more than ~ 4 pc away from
a 10^4 Msun compact object. In addition, in no portion of the sampled parameter
space does the gravitational interaction between the protocluster disk and the
massive particle significantly disperse the disk into the background GMC. We
discuss the distribution of clusters of young stellar objects within the
Perseus and Mon R2 star forming regions, which are consistent with the results
of our simulations and the limitations of our results in gas dominated regions
such as the Orion cloud.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap
Detection of Extended He II Reionization in the Temperature Evolution of the Intergalactic Medium
We present new measurements of the temperature of the intergalactic medium
(IGM) derived from the Lyman-alpha forest over 2.0 < z < 4.8. The small-scale
structure in the forest of 61 high-resolution QSO spectra is quantified using a
new statistic, the curvature, and the conversion to temperature calibrated
using a suite of hydrodynamic simulations. At each redshift we focus on
obtaining the temperature at an optimal overdensity probed by the Lyman-alpha
forest, T(Delta), where the temperature is nearly a one-to-one function of the
curvature regardless of the slope of the temperature-density relation. The
median 2-sigma statistical uncertainty in these measurements is 8 per cent,
though there may be comparable systematic errors due to the unknown amount of
Jeans smoothing in the IGM. We use our T(Delta) results to infer the
temperature at the mean density, T0. Even for a maximally steep
temperature-density relation, T0 must increase from ~8000 K at z ~ 4.4 to
>~12000 K at z ~ 2.8. This increase is not consistent with the monotonic
decline in T0 expected in the absence of He II reionization. We therefore
interpret the observed rise in temperature as evidence of He II reionization
beginning at z >~ 4.4. The evolution of T0 is consistent with an end to He II
reionization at z ~ 3, as suggested by opacity measurements of the He II
Lyman-alpha forest, although the redshift at which T0 peaks will depend
somewhat on the evolution of the temperature-density relation. These new
temperature measurements suggest that the heat input due to the reionization of
He II dominates the thermal balance of the IGM over an extended period with
Delta_z >~ 1.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, accepted to MNRA
The Thermal Memory of Reionization History
The recent measurement by WMAP of a large electron scattering optical depth
tau_e = 0.17 +- 0.04 is consistent with a simple model of reionization in which
the intergalactic medium (IGM) is ionized at redshift z ~ 15, and remains
highly ionized thereafter. Here, we show that existing measurements of the IGM
temperature from the Lyman-alpha forest at z ~ 2 - 4 rule out this ``vanilla''
model. Under reasonable assumptions about the ionizing spectrum, as long as the
universe is reionized before z = 10, and remains highly ionized thereafter, the
IGM reaches an asymptotic thermal state which is too cold compared to
observations. To simultaneously satisfy the CMB and forest constraints, the
reionization history must be complex: reionization begins early at z >~ 15, but
there must have been significant (order unity) changes in fractions of neutral
hydrogen and/or helium at 6 < z < 10, and/or singly ionized helium at 4 < z <
10. We describe a physically motivated reionization model that satisfies all
current observations. We also explore the impact of a stochastic reionization
history and show that a late epoch of (HeII --> HeIII) reionization induces a
significant scatter in the IGM temperature, but the scatter diminishes with
time quickly. Finally, we provide an analytic formula for the thermal
asymptote, and discuss possible additional heating mechanisms that might evade
our constraints.Comment: 10 pages, submitted to ApJ, new references, additional discussion on
earlier work and partial HeII reionizatio
A Direct Precision Measurement of the Intergalactic Lyman-alpha Opacity at 2<z<4.2
We directly measure the evolution of the intergalactic Lya effective optical
depth, tau_eff, over the redshift range 2<z<4.2 from a sample of 86
high-resolution, high-signal-to-noise quasar spectra obtained with the ESI and
HIRES spectrographs on Keck, and with the MIKE spectrograph on Magellan. This
represents an improvement over previous analyses of the Lya forest from
high-resolution spectra in this redshift interval of a factor of two in the
size of the data set alone. We pay particular attention to robust error
estimation and extensively test for systematic effects. We find that our
estimates of the quasar continuum levels in the Lya forest obtained by spline
fitting are systematically biased low, with the magnitude of the bias
increasing with redshift, but that this bias can be accounted for using mock
spectra. The mean fractional error is <1% at z=2, 4% at z=3, and 12% at z=4.
Previous measurements of tau_eff at z>~3 based on directly fitting the quasar
continua in the Lya forest, which have generally neglected this effect, are
therefore likely biased low. We provide estimates of the level of absorption
arising from metals in the Lya forest based on both direct and statistical
metal removal results in the literature, finding that this contribution is
~6-9% at z=3 and decreases monotonically with redshift. The high precision of
our measurement, attaining 3% in redshift bins of width Delta z=0.2 around z=3,
indicates significant departures from the best-fit power-law redshift evolution
(tau_eff=0.0018(1+z)^3.92, when metals are left in), particularly near z=3.2.
The observed downward departure is statistically consistent with a similar
feature detected in a precision statistical measurement using Sloan Digital Sky
Survey spectra by Bernardi and coworkers using an independent approach.Comment: 27 pages, including 18 figures, published in Ap
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