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Register a new userEvolution of Neutral Gas at High Redshift -- Implications for the Epoch of Galaxy Formation
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Lisa J. Storrie-Lombardi
Publication date
1996
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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Though observationally rare, damped Lya absorption systems dominate the mass density of neutral gas in the Universe. Eleven high redshift damped Lya systems covering 2.8<z<4.4 were discovered in 26 QSOs from the APM z>4 QSO Survey, extending these absorption system surveys to the highest redshifts currently possible. Combining our new data set with previous surveys we find that the cosmological mass density in neutral gas, omega_g, does not rise as steeply prior to z~2 as indicated by previous studies. There is evidence in the observed omega_g for a flattening at z~2 and a possible turnover at z~3. When combined with the decline at z>3.5 in number density per unit redshift of damped systems with column densities log N(HI)>21 atoms cm^-2, these results point to an epoch at z>3 prior to which the highest column density damped systems are still forming. We find that over the redshift range 2<z<4 the total mass in neutral gas is marginally comparable with the total visible mass in stars in present day galaxies. However, if one considers the total mass visible in stellar disks alone, ie excluding galactic bulges, the two values are comparable. We are observing a mass of neutral gas comparable to the mass of visible disk stars. Lanzetta, Wolfe & Turnshek (1995) found that omega_g(z~3.5) was twice omega_g(z~2), implying a much larger amount of star formation must have taken place between z=3.5 and z=2 than is indicated by metallicity studies. This created a `cosmic G-dwarf problem. The more gradual evolution of omega_g we find alleviates this. These results have profound implications for theories of galaxy formation.
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We find that disk galaxies show a sharp, mass-dependent transition in the structure of their dusty ISM. Dust lanes are a generic feature of massive disks with V_rot>120km/s, but are completely absent in galaxies with V_rot<120km/s. The transition reflects an increase in the scale height of the cold ISM in low mass galaxies, driven by larger turbulent velocities supporting the gas layer, rather than sharp drops in the gas surface density. We identify the V_rot=120km/s transition with the onset of gravitational instabilities in high mass galaxies. The instabilities lead to fragmentation and gravitational collapse along spiral arms, smaller gas scale heights, lower turbulent velocities, and thus to narrow dust lanes. The drop in velocity dispersion may be due either to a switch in the driving mechanism for turbulence or to a change in the response of the ISM to supernovae after the ISM has collapsed to a dense layer. The resulting smaller gas scale height can lead to significant increases in the star formation rate when disk instabilities are present, and may explain the Kennicutt surface density threshold for star formation. Our data suggest that star formation will be systematically less efficient in low mass disks with V_c<120km/s, leading to star formation timescales longer than the gas accretion timescale. This effect can suppress the metallicity and nucleosynthetic yields of low mass disks, and thus explain the disk mass-metallicity relationship without invoking galactic SN-driven outflows. The transitions in disk stability, dust structure, and/or star formation efficiency may also be responsible for observed changes in the slope of the Tully-Fisher relation, in the sharp increase in the thickness of dwarf galaxy disks, and in the onset of bulges in galaxies with V_rot>120km/s. (Abridged)
We study the Oxygen and Nitrogen abundances in the interstellar medium of high-redshift galaxies. We use high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio spectra of Damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) systems detected along the line-of-sight to quasars to derive robust abundance measurements from unsaturated metal absorption lines. We present results for a sample of 16 high-redshift DLAs and strong sub-DLAs (log N(HI)>19.5, 2.4<zabs<3.6) including 13 new measurements. We find that the Oxygen to Iron abundance ratio is pretty much constant with [O/Fe]=+0.32+-0.10 for -2.5<[O/H]<-1.0 with a small scatter around this value. The Oxygen abundance follows quite well the Silicon abundance within 0.2dex although the Silicon abundance could be slightly smaller for [O/H]<-2. The distribution of the [N/O] abundance ratio, measured from components that are detected in both species, is somehow double peaked: five systems have [N/O]>-1 and nine systems have [N/O]<-1.15. In the diagram [N/O] versus [O/H], a loose plateau is possibly present at [N/O]=-0.9 that is below the so-called primary plateau as seen in local metal-poor dwarf galaxies ([N/O] in the range -0.57 to -0.74). No system is seen above this primary plateau whereas the majority of the systems lie well below with a large scatter. All this suggests a picture in which DLAs undergo successive star-bursts. During such an episode, the [N/O] ratio decreases sharply because of the rapid release of Oxygen by massive stars whereas inbetween two bursts, Nitrogen is released by low and intermediate-mass stars with a delay and the [N/O] ratio increases.
I review the observational characteristics of intermediate-to-high redshift star forming galaxies, including their star formation rates, dust extinctions, ISM kinematics, and chemical compositions. I present evidence that the mean rate of metal enrichment, Delta{Z}/Delta{z}, from z=0--3, as determined from nebular oxygen abundance measurements in star forming galaxies, is 0.15 dex per redshift unit for galaxies more luminous than M_B=-20.5. This rate of chemical enrichment is consistent with the chemical rise in Galactic disk stars. It is less dramatic than, but perhaps consistent with, the enrichment rate of 0.18--0.26+/-0.07 dex per redshift unit seen in Damped Ly alpha systems, and it is much less than predicted by many cosmological evolution models. The high-redshift galaxies observed to date are the most luminous examples from those epochs, and thus, trace only the greatest cosmological overdensities. Star formation in the first 1-2 Gyr appears sufficient to elevate ambient metallicities to near or above the solar value, implying efficient production and retention of metals in these densest environments.
We introduce the First Light And Reionisation Epoch Simulations (FLARES), a suite of zoom simulations using the EAGLE model. We resimulate a range of overdensities during the Epoch of Reionisation (EoR) in order to build composite distribution functions, as well as explore the environmental dependence of galaxy formation and evolution during this critical period of galaxy assembly. The regions are selected from a large $(3.2 ;mathrm{cGpc})^{3}$ parent volume, based on their overdensity within a sphere of radius $14,h^{-1};mathrm{cMpc}$. We then resimulate with full hydrodynamics, and employ a novel weighting scheme that allows the construction of composite distribution functions that are representative of the full parent volume. This significantly extends the dynamic range compared to smaller volume periodic simulations. We present an analysis of the galaxy stellar mass function (GSMF), the star formation rate distribution function (SFRF) and the star forming sequence (SFS) predicted by flares, and compare to a number of observational and model constraints. We also analyse the environmental dependence over an unprecedented range of overdensity. Both the GSMF and the SFRF exhibit a clear double-Schechter form, up to the highest redshifts ($z = 10$). We also find no environmental dependence of the SFS normalisation. The increased dynamic range probed by FLARES will allow us to make predictions for a number of large area surveys that will probe the EoR in coming years, such as WFIRST and Euclid.
There is a well known disparity between the evolution the star formation rate density, {psi}*, and the abundance of neutral hydrogen (HI), the raw material for star formation. Recently, however, we have shown that {psi}* may be correlated with the fraction of cool atomic gas, as traced through the 21-cm absorption of HI. This is expected since star formation requires cold (T ~ 10 K) gas and so this could address the issue of why the star formation rate density does not trace the bulk atomic gas. The data are, however, limited to redshifts of z < 2, where both {psi}* and the cold gas fraction exhibit a similar steep climb from the present day (z = 0), and so it is unknown whether the cold gas fraction follows the same decline as {psi}* at higher redshift. In order to address this, we have used unpublished archival observations of 21-cm absorption in high redshift damped Lyman-{alpha} absorption systems to increase the sample at z > 2. The data suggest that the cold gas fraction does exhibit a decrease, although this is significantly steeper than {psi}* at z ~ 3. This is, however, degenerate with the extents of the absorbing galaxy and the background continuum emission and upon removing these, via canonical evolution models, we find the mean spin temperature of the gas to be <T> ~ 3000 K, compared to the ~2000 K expected from the fit at z < 2. These temperatures are consistent with the observed high neutral hydrogen column densities, which require T < 4000 K in order for the gas not to be highly ionised.
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