5,075 research outputs found
The Population of Weak Mg II Absorbers I. A Survey of 26 QSO HIRES/Keck Spectra
We present a search for "weak" MgII absorbers [those with W_r(2796) < 0.3 A
in the HIRES/Keck spectra of 26 QSOs. We found 30, of which 23 are newly
discovered. The spectra are 80% complete to W_r(2796) = 0.02 A and have a
cumulative redshift path of ~17.2 for the redshift range 0.4 < z < 1.4. The
number of absorbers per unit redshift, dN/dz, is seen to increase as the
equivalent width threshold is decreased; we obtained dN/dz = 1.74+/-0.10 for
our 0.02 <= W_r(2796) < 0.3 A sample. The equivalent width distribution follows
a power law with slope -1.0; there is no turnover down to W_r(2796) = 0.02 A at
= 0.9. Weak absorbers comprise at least 65% of the total MgII absorption
population, which outnumbers Lyman limit systems (LLS) by a factor of
3.8+/-1.1; the majority of weak MgII absorbers must arise in sub-LLS
environments. Tentatively, we predict that ~5% of the Lyman-alpha forest clouds
with W_r(1215) > 0.1 A will have detectable MgII absorption to W_r,min(2796) =
0.02 A and that this is primarily a high-metallicity selection effect (Z/Z_sun]
> -1). This implies that MgII absorbing structures figure prominently as
tracers of sub-LLS environments where gas has been processed by stars. We
compare the number density of W_r(2796) > 0.02 A absorbers with that of both
high and low surface brightness galaxies and find a fiducial absorber size of
35h^-1 to 63h^-1 kpc, depending upon the assumed galaxy population and their
absorption properties. The individual absorbing "clouds" have W_r(2796) <= 0.15
A and their narrow (often unresolved) line widths imply temperatures of ~25,000
K. We measured W_r(1548) from CIV in FOS/HST archival spectra and, based upon
comparisons with FeII, found a range of ionization conditions (low, high, and
multi-phase) in absorbers selected by weak MgII.Comment: Accepted Version: 43 pages, PostScript figures embedded; accepted to
ApJ; updated version includes analysis of CIV absorptio
The evolution of clustering and bias in the galaxy distribution
This paper reviews the measurements of galaxy correlations at high redshifts,
and discusses how these may be understood in models of hierarchical
gravitational collapse. The clustering of galaxies at redshift one is much
weaker than at present, and this is consistent with the rate of growth of
structure expected in an open universe. If , this observation would
imply that bias increases at high redshift, in conflict with observed
values for known high- clusters. At redshift 3, the population of
Lyman-limit galaxies displays clustering which is of similar amplitude to that
seen today. This is most naturally understood if the Lyman-limit population is
a set of rare recently-formed objects. Knowing both the clustering and the
abundance of these objects, it is possible to deduce empirically the
fluctuation spectrum required on scales which cannot be measured today owing to
gravitational nonlinearities. Of existing physical models for the fluctuation
spectrum, the results are most closely matched by a low-density spatially flat
universe. This conclusion is reinforced by an empirical analysis of CMB
anisotropies, in which the present-day fluctuation spectrum is forced to have
the observed form. Open models are strongly disfavoured, leaving CDM
as the most successful simple model for structure formation.Comment: Invited review at the Royal Society Meeting `Large-scale structure in
the universe', London, March 1998. 20 Pages LaTe
Associated Absorption Lines in the Radio-Loud Quasar 3C 351: Far-Ultraviolet Echelle Spectroscopy from the Hubble Space Telescope
As one of the most luminous radio-loud quasars showing intrinsic ultraviolet
(UV) and X-ray absorption, 3C 351 provides a laboratory for studying the
kinematics and physical conditions of such ionized absorbers. We present an
analysis of the intrinsic absorption lines in the high-resolution ( 7
km/s) far-UV spectrum which was obtained from observations with the Space
Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope
(HST). The spectrum spans wavelengths from 1150 \AA to 1710 \AA, and shows
strong emission lines from O VI and Ly. Associated absorption lines are
present on the blue wings of the high-ionization emission doublets O VI
1032,1038 and N V 1238,1242, as well as the
Lyman lines through Ly. These intrinsic absorption features are
resolved into several distinct kinematic components, covering rest-frame
velocities from -40 to -2800 km/s, with respect to the systemic redshift of
. For the majority of these absorption line regions, strong
evidence of partial covering of both the background continuum source and the
BELR is found, which supports the intrinsic absorption origin and rules out the
possibility that the absorption arises in some associated cluster of galaxies.
The relationship between the far-UV absorbers and X-ray `warm' absorbers are
studied with the assistance of photoionization models. Most of the UV
associated absorption components have low values of the ionization parameter
and total hydrogen column densities, which is inconsistent with previous claims
that the UV and X-ray absorption arises in the same material. Analysis of these
components supports a picture with a wide range of ionization parameters,
temperatures, and column densities in AGN outflows.Comment: 27 pages with 5 figures, accepted by Ap
Damped Lyman-alpha absorption from a nearby Low Surface Brightness galaxy
Ground-based & HST images of the nearby galaxy SBS 1543+593 (z=0.009) show it
to be a Low Surface Brightness (LSB) galaxy with a central surface brightness
of mu_B(0)=23.2 mag/arcsec-2 and scale length 0.9 h-1 kpc, values typical for
the local LSB galaxy population. The galaxy lies directly in front of the QSO
HS 1543+5921 (z=0.807); an HST STIS spectrum of the quasar reveals a damped
Lyman-alpha (DLA) line at the redshift of the interloper with an HI column
density of log N(HI) = 20.35, as well as several low-ionization metal lines
with strengths similar to those found in the Milky Way interstellar medium. Our
data show that LSB galaxies are certainly able to produce the DLA lines seen at
higher redshift, and fuels the speculation that LSB galaxies are a major
contributor to that population of absorbers.Comment: Submitted to A
The Low Redshift Lyman Alpha Forest in Cold Dark Matter Cosmologies
We study the physical origin of the low-redshift Lyman alpha forest in
hydrodynamic simulations of four CDM cosmologies. Our main conclusions are
insensitive to the cosmological model but depend on our assumption that the UV
background declines at low redshift. We find that the expansion of the universe
drives rapid evolution of dN/dz (the number of absorbers per unit z) at z >
1.7, but that at lower redshift the fading of the UV background counters the
influence of expansion, leading to slow evolution. At every redshift, weaker
lines come primarily from moderate fluctuations of the diffuse, unshocked IGM,
and stronger lines originate in shocked or radiatively cooled gas of higher
overdensity. However, the neutral hydrogen column density associated with
structures of fixed overdensity drops as the universe expands, so an absorber
at z = 0 is dynamically analogous to an absorber with neutral hydrogen column
density 10 to 50 times higher at z = 2-3. We find no clear distinction between
lines arising in "galaxy halos" and lines arising in larger scale structures;
however, galaxies tend to lie near the dense regions of the IGM that produce
strong Lyman alpha lines. The simulations provide a unified physical picture
that accounts for the most distinctive observed properties of the low redshift
Lyman alpha forest: (1) a sharp transition in the evolution of dN/dz at z ~
1.7, (2) stronger evolution for absorbers of higher equivalent width, (3) a
correlation of increasing Lyman alpha equivalent width with decreasing galaxy
impact parameter, and (4) a tendency for stronger lines to arise in close
proximity to galaxies while weaker lines trace more diffuse large scale
structure. (Abridged)Comment: 57 pages, 18 figures, submitted to Ap
The Population of Weak MgII Absorbers. II The Properties of Single-Cloud Systems
We present an investigation of MgII absorbers characterized as single-cloud
weak systems at z~1. We measured column densities and Doppler parameters for
MgII and FeII in 15 systems found in HIRES/Keck spectra at 6.6 km/s. Using
these quantities and CIV, Lyman alpha and Lyman limit absorption observed with
FOS/HST (resolution ~230 km/s) we applied photoionization models to each system
to constrain metallicities, densities, ionization conditions, and sizes.
We find that: (1) Single-cloud weak systems are optically thin in neutral
hydrogen and may have their origins in a population of objects distinct from
the optically thick strong MgII absorbers, which are associated with bright
galaxies. (2) Weak systems account for somewhere between 25% to 100% of the z <
1 Lyman alpha forest clouds in the range 15.8<log N(HI)<16.8 cm^-2. (3) At
least seven of 15 systems have two or more ionization phases of gas (multiphase
medium). (4) We identify a subset of weak MgII absorber that we term
``iron-rich''. These clouds are not alpha-group enhanced and are constrained to
have sizes of ~10 pc. At that size, to produce the observed redshift path
density, they would need to outnumber L* galaxies by approximately six orders
of magnitude.
We discuss these results and the implications that the iron-rich systems
require enrichment from Type Ia supernovae. Further, we address how star
clusters or supernova remnants in dwarf galaxies might give rise to absorbers
with the inferred properties. This would imply far larger numbers of such
objects than are presently known, even locally. We compare the weak systems to
the weak kinematic subsystems in strong MgII absorbers and to Galactic high
velocity clouds. (abridged)Comment: 48 pages, 10 figures, accepted to the Astrophysical Journa
The extended epoch of galaxy formation: age dating of ~3600 galaxies with 2<z<6.5 in the VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey
We aim at improving constraints on the epoch of galaxy formation by measuring
the ages of 3597 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts 2<z<6.5 in the VIMOS
Ultra Deep Survey (VUDS). We derive ages and other physical parameters from the
simultaneous fitting with the GOSSIP+ software of observed UV rest-frame
spectra and photometric data from the u-band up to 4.5 microns using composite
stellar population models. We conclude from extensive simulations that at z>2
the joint analysis of spectroscopy and photometry combined with restricted age
possibilities when taking into account the age of the Universe substantially
reduces systematic uncertainties and degeneracies in the age derivation. We
find galaxy ages ranging from very young with a few tens of million years to
substantially evolved with ages up to ~1.5-2 Gyr. The formation redshifts z_f
derived from the measured ages indicate that galaxies may have started forming
stars as early as z_f~15. We produce the formation redshift function (FzF), the
number of galaxies per unit volume formed at a redshift z_f, and compare the
FzF in increasing redshift bins finding a remarkably constant 'universal' FzF.
The FzF is parametrized with (1+z)^\zeta, with \zeta~0.58+/-0.06, indicating a
smooth 2 dex increase from z~15 to z~2. Remarkably this observed increase is of
the same order as the observed rise in the star formation rate density (SFRD).
The ratio of the SFRD with the FzF gives an average SFR per galaxy of
~7-17Msun/yr at z~4-6, in agreement with the measured SFR for galaxies at these
redshifts. From the smooth rise in the FzF we infer that the period of galaxy
formation extends from the highest possible redshifts that we can probe at z~15
down to redshifts z~2. This indicates that galaxy formation is a continuous
process over cosmic time, with a higher number of galaxies forming at the peak
in SFRD at z~2 than at earlier epochs. (Abridged)Comment: Submitted to A&A, 24 page
Metallicity Evolution of Damped Lyman Alpha Systems In Lambda CDM Cosmology
Utilizing a new, high mass resolution hydrodynamic simulation we compute the
metallicity evolution of damped Lyman alpha systems (DLAs) and find a
reasonable agreement with observations. In particular, the observed slow
evolution of the DLA metallicity occurs naturally in the simulation due to the
combined effects of physical and observational selection. The slow metallicity
evolution is caused by the steady transformation, with increasing time, of the
highest metallicity systems to "galaxies", thus depleting this category, while
all the lower metallicity systems show, individually, an increase in
metallicity. Although the trend of DLA metallicity with redshift is in good
agreement with observations, it appears that the average metallicity of
simulated DLAs is higher than observed by 0.3-0.5 dex in the probed redshift
range (z=0-5). Our study indicates that this difference may be attributed to
observational selection effects due to dust obscuration. If we allow for a dust
obscuration effect, our model reproduces the observed metallicity evolution in
both amplitude and slope. We find that DLAs are not a simple population but
probe a range of different systems and the mix changes with redshift. About 50%
of all metals in the gaseous phase is in DLAs at all times from z=5 to z=1,
making a rapid downturn at z\le 1 to ~20% by z=0, as metals are swept into the
hotter components of the IGM as well as locked up in stars. While not the
primary focus of this study, we find that the model provides good matches to
observations with respect to column density distribution and evolution of
neutral gas content, if the same dust obscuration is taken into account. We
find Omega_{DLA,comp}=(1-3)E-3, depending on the effect of dust obscuration.Comment: accepted to ApJ, 41 pages Figure 1 in color can be found at
http://astro.princeton.edu/~cen/PROJECTS/p2/rhob_Z3.jpe
Constraints on Early Nucleosynthesis from the Abundance Pattern of a Damped Ly-alpha System at z = 2.626
We have investigated chemical evolution in the young universe by analysing
the detailed chemical enrichment pattern of a metal-rich galaxy at high
redshift. The recent detection of over 20 elements in the gas-phase of a damped
Lyman-alpha absorber (DLA) at z = 2.626 represents an exciting new avenue for
exploring early nucleosynthesis. Given a strict upper age of ~2.5 Gyr and a
gas-phase metallicity about one third solar, we have shown the DLA abundance
pattern to be consistent with the predictions of a chemical evolution model in
which the interstellar enrichment is dominated by massive stars with a small
contribution from Type Ia supernovae. Discrepancies between the empirical data
and the models are used to highlight outstanding issues in nucleosynthesis
theory, including a tendency for Type II supernovae models to overestimate the
magnitude of the "odd-even" effect at subsolar metallicities. Our results
suggest a possible need for supplemental sources of magnesium and zinc, beyond
that provided by massive stars.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figs. Accepted for publication in ApJ (The Astrophysical
Journal
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