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تسجيل مستخدم جديدHubble and FUSE studies of Ly-alpha absorbers at low redshift
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J. Michael Shull
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Ultraviolet spectrographs aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) have proved their value as sensitive probes of the low-density intergalactic medium (IGM) at low redshifts (z < 0.1). Recent observations in Ly-alpha, Ly-beta, and occasional higher Lyman lines show that warm photoionized gas in the low-z IGM may contain 20-25% of the baryons, with a N(HI)^-1.8 distribution in column density. Measurements of resonance lines of Si III, C III, C IV, and O VI suggest that the metallicity of these absorbers ranges from 1-10% of solar abundance down to values below 0.003 Z(solar). A comparison of Ly-beta/Ly-alpha ratios (FUSE and HST) yields a distribution of Doppler parameters with mean b = 31.4 +/- 7.4 km/s and median 28 km/s, comparable to values at z = 2-3. The curve-of-growth (CoG) b-values are considerably less than widths derived from Ly-alpha profile fitting, with mean b(CoG)/b(width) = 0.52, which suggests that low-z absorbers contain sizable non-thermal motions or velocity components arising from cosmological expansion and infall. A challenge for future UV spectroscopic missions (HST/COS and SUVO) is to obtain precision measurements of Omega(IGM) and metallicities for the strong Ly-alpha absorbers that dominate the IGM baryon content. This program will require accurate determinations of: (1) curves of growth using higher Lyman series lines; (2) the ionizing radiation field at 1-5 Ryd; and (3) characteristic sizes and shapes of the absorbers.
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Recent searches for the hosts of high-redshift ($z sim 4$) damped Ly$alpha$ absorbers (DLAs) have detected bright galaxies at distances of tens of kpc from the DLA. Using the FIRE-2 cosmological zoom simulations, we argue that these relatively large
distances are due to a predominantly cool and neutral inner circumgalactic medium (CGM) surrounding high-redshift galaxies. The inner CGM is cool because of the short cooling time of hot gas in $lesssim10^{12}$ Msun halos, which implies that accretion and feedback energy are radiated quickly, while it is neutral due to the high volume densities and column densities at high redshift which shield cool gas from photoionization. Our analysis predicts large DLA covering factors ($gtrsim50%$) out to impact parameters $sim0.3((1 + z)/5)^{3/2} R_{rm vir}$ from the central galaxies at $z > 1$, equivalent to a physical distance of $sim 21 M_{12}^{1/3} ((1 + z)/5)^{1/2}$ kpc ($R_{rm vir}$ and $M_{12}$ are the halo virial radius and mass in units of $10^{12}$ Msun, respectively). This implies that DLA covering factors at $z sim 4$ may be comparable to unity out to a distance $sim 10$ times larger than stellar half-mass radii. A predominantly neutral inner CGM in the early universe suggests that its mass and metallicity can be directly constrained by CGM absorption surveys, without resorting to large ionization corrections as required for ionized CGM.
In this series of lectures, I review our observational understanding of high-$z$ Ly$alpha$ emitters (LAEs) and relevant scientific topics. Since the discovery of LAEs in the late 1990s, more than ten (one) thousand(s) of LAEs have been identified pho
tometrically (spectroscopically) at $zsim 0$ to $zsim 10$. These large samples of LAEs are useful to address two major astrophysical issues, galaxy formation and cosmic reionization. Statistical studies have revealed the general picture of LAEs physical properties: young stellar populations, remarkable luminosity function evolutions, compact morphologies, highly ionized inter-stellar media (ISM) with low metal/dust contents, low masses of dark-matter halos. Typical LAEs represent low-mass high-$z$ galaxies, high-$z$ analogs of dwarf galaxies, some of which are thought to be candidates of population III galaxies. These observational studies have also pinpointed rare bright Ly$alpha$ sources extended over $sim 10-100$ kpc, dubbed Ly$alpha$ blobs, whose physical origins are under debate. LAEs are used as probes of cosmic reionization history through the Ly$alpha$ damping wing absorption given by the neutral hydrogen of the inter-galactic medium (IGM), which complement the cosmic microwave background radiation and 21cm observations. The low-mass and highly-ionized population of LAEs can be major sources of cosmic reionization. The budget of ionizing photons for cosmic reionization has been constrained, although there remain large observational uncertainties in the parameters. Beyond galaxy formation and cosmic reionization, several new usages of LAEs for science frontiers have been suggested such as the distribution of {sc Hi} gas in the circum-galactic medium and filaments of large-scale structures. On-going programs and future telescope projects, such as JWST, ELTs, and SKA, will push the horizons of the science frontiers.
Nitrogen is thought to have both primary and secondary origins depending on whether the seed carbon and oxygen are produced by the star itself (primary) or already present in the interstellar medium (secondary) from which star forms. DLA and sub-DLA
systems with typical metallicities of -3.0<Z/Z_sun<-0.5 are excellent tools to study nitrogen production. We made a search for nitrogen in the ESO-UVES advanced data products (EUADP) database. In the EUADP database, we find 10 new measurements and 9 upper limits of nitrogen. We further compiled DLA/sub-DLA data from the literature with estimates available of nitrogen and alpha-elements. This yields a total of 98 systems, i.e. the largest nitrogen abundance sample investigated so far. In agreement with previous studies, we indeed find a bimodal [N/alpha] behaviour: three-quarter systems show a mean value of [N/alpha]=-0.87 with a scatter of 0.21 dex and one-quarter shows ratios clustered at [N/alpha]=-1.43 with a lower dispersion of 0.13 dex. The high [N/alpha] group is consistent with the blue compact dwarves and dwarf irregular galaxies, suggesting primary nitrogen production. The low [N/alpha] group is the lowest ever observed in any astrophysical site and probably provides an evidence of the primary production by fast rotating massive stars in young sites. Moreover, we find a transition between the two [N/alpha] groups around [N/H]=-2.5. The transition is not abrupt and there are a few systems lying in the transition region. Additional observations of DLAs/sub-DLAs below [N/H]<-2.5 would provide more clues.
We report Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Origins Spectrograph far-ultraviolet and Arecibo Telescope H{sc i} 21cm spectroscopic studies of six damped and sub-damped Lyman-$alpha$ absorbers (DLAs and sub-DLAs, respectively) at $z lesssim 0.1$, that have
yielded estimates of their H{sc i} column density, metallicity and atomic gas mass. This significantly increases the number of DLAs with gas mass estimates, allowing the first comparison between the gas masses of DLAs and local galaxies. Including three absorbers from the literature, we obtain H{sc i} masses $approx (0.24 - 5.2) times 10^9 : {rm M}_odot$, lower than the knee of the local H{sc i} mass function. This implies that massive galaxies do not dominate the absorption cross-section for low-$z$ DLAs. We use Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometry and spectroscopy to identify the likely hosts of four absorbers, obtaining low stellar masses, $approx 10^7-10^{8.7} M_odot$, in all cases, consistent with the hosts being dwarf galaxies. We obtain high H{sc i} 21,cm or CO emission line widths, $Delta V_{20} approx 100-290$~km~s$^{-1}$, and high gas fractions, $f_{rm HI} approx 5-100$, suggesting that the absorber hosts are gas-rich galaxies with low star formation efficiencies. However, the H{sc i} 21,cm velocity spreads ($gtrsim 100$~km~s$^{-1}$) appear systematically larger than the velocity spreads in typical dwarf galaxies.
We have carried out a high angular resolution near-infrared imaging study of the fields of 6 quasars with 7 strong absorption line systems at z < 0.5, using the Hokupaa adaptive optics system and the QUIRC near-infrared camera on the Gemini-North tel
escope. These absorption systems include 4 classical damped Lyman-alpha absorbers (DLAs), 2 sub-DLAs, and one Lyman-limit system. Images were obtained in the H or K filters with FWHM between 0.2-0.5 with the goal of detecting the absorbing galaxies and identifying their morphologies. Features are seen at projected separations of 0.5-16.0 from the quasars and all of the fields show features at less than 2 separation. We find candidate absorbers in all of the seven systems. With the assumption that some of these are associated with the absorbers, the absorbers are low luminosity < 0.1 L*_H or L*_K; we do not find any large bright candidate absorbers in any of our fields. Some fields show compact features that are too faint for quantitative morphology, but could arise in dwarf galaxies.
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