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At least 109 records · Page 6

A Fundamental Test for Galaxy Formation Models: Matching the Lyman- α Absorption Profiles of Galactic Halos Over Three Decades in Distance

Galaxy formation depends critically on the physical state of gas in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) and its interface with the intergalactic medium (IGM), determined by the complex interplay between inflow from the IGM and outflows from supernovae and/or AGN feedback. The average Lyα absorption profile around galactic halos represents a powerful tool to probe their gaseous environments. We compare predictions from Illustris and Nyx hydrodynamical simulations with the observed absorption around foreground quasars, damped Lyα systems, and Lyman-break galaxies. We show how large-scale BOSS and small-scale quasar pair measurements can be combined to precisely constrain the absorption profile over three decades in transverse distance 20 kpc ≲ b ≲ 20 Mpc. Far from galaxies, ≲ 2 Mpc, the simulations converge to the same profile and provide a reasonable match to the observations. This asymptotic agreement arises because the ΛCDM model successfully describes the ambient IGM and represents a critical advantage of studying the mean absorption profile. However, significant differences between the simulations, and between simulations and observations, are present on scales 20 kpc ≲ b ≲ 20 Mpc, illustrating the challenges of accurately modeling and resolving galaxy formation physics. It is noteworthy that these differences are observed as far out as ~2 Mpc, indicating that the "sphere of influence" of galaxies could extend to approximately ~7 times the halo virial radius. Current observations are very precise on these scales and can thus strongly discriminate between different galaxy formation models. We demonstrate that the Lyα absorption profile is primarily sensitive to the underlying temperature-density relationship of diffuse gas around galaxies, and argue that it thus provides a fundamental test of galaxy formation models.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Resolving the Formation of Protogalaxies: Feedback from the First Stars - 3

The first stars form in dark matter halos of masses 106 M as suggested by an increasing number of numerical simulations. Radiation feedback from these stars expels most of the gas from the shallow potential well of their surrounding dark matter halos.We use cosmological adaptive mesh refinement simulations that include self-consistent Population III star formation and feedback to examine the properties of assembling early dwarf galaxies. Accurate radiative transport is modeled with adaptive ray tracing. We include supernova explosions and follow the metal enrichment of the intergalactic medium. The calculations focus on the formation of several dwarf galaxies and their progenitors. In these halos, baryon fractions in 10(exp 8) Stelar Mass halos decrease by a factor of 2 with stellar feedback and by a factor of 3 with supernova explosions.We find that radiation feedback and supernova explosions increase gaseous spin parameters up to a factor of 4 and vary with time. Stellar feedback, supernova explosions, and H2 cooling create a complex, multiphase interstellar medium whose densities and temperatures can span up to 6 orders of magnitude at a given radius. The pair-instability supernovae of Population III stars alone enrich the halos with virial temperatures of 10(exp 4) K to approximately 10(exp -3) of solar metallicity.We find that 40% of the heavy elements resides in the intergalactic medium (IGM) at the end of our calculations. The highest metallicity gas exists in supernova remnants and very dilute regions of the IGM.

Wise, John H.↗

Tracing the Evolution of the Cool Gas in CGM and IGM Environments through Mg II Absorption from Redshift z = 0.75 to z = 1.65 Using DESI-Y1 Data

We present a measurement of the mean absorption of cool gas traced by Mg II (λλ2796, 2803) around emission line galaxies (ELGs), spanning spatial scales from 20 kpc to 10 Mpc. The measurement is based on crossmatching the positions ELGs at z = 0.75–1.65 and the metal absorption in the spectra of background quasars with data provided by the Year 1 sample of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. The ELGs are divided into two redshift intervals: 0.75 < z < 1.0 and 1.0 < z < 1.65. We find that the composite quasar spectra constructed by stacking the ELG-QSO pairs evolve with redshift, with z > 1 having a systematically higher signal of Mg II absorption. Within 1 Mpc, the covering fraction of the cool gas at z > 1 is higher than that of z < 1. The enhancement becomes less apparent especially if the projected distance r p > 1 Mpc. ELGs with higher stellar mass and star formation rate (SFR) yield higher clustering of Mg ii absorbers at z < 1. For z > 1, the covering fractions with different SFRs show little difference. The higher Mg II absorption at higher redshift supports the observations of higher star formation at cosmic noon. Converting the Mg II absorbers to unsaturated Si II , our estimate indicates that the metal abundance of Si II ranges from 0.7 to 1.2 × 10 −6 from z = 0.9 to 1.3. The growth of low-ionization metal abundance strongly suggests a metal-enriched circumgalactic medium and an increased presence of cool gas in the intergalactic medium toward higher redshifts.

circumgalactic medium↗

The Nature of the Unresolved Extragalactic Cosmic Soft X-Ray Background

In this paper we investigate the power spectrum of the unresolved 0.5-2 keV cosmic X-ray background (CXB) with deep Chandra 4-Msec (Ms) observations in the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS). We measured a signal that, on scales >30 arcsec, is significantly higher than the shot noise and is increasing with angular scale. We interpreted this signal as the joint contribution of clustered undetected sources like active galactic nuclei (AGN), galaxies and the intergalactic medium (IGM). The power of unresolved cosmic source fluctuations accounts for approximately 12 per cent of the 0.5-2 keV extragalactic CXB. Overall, our modelling predicts that approximately 20 per cent of the unresolved CXB flux is produced by low-luminosity AGN, approximately 25 per cent by galaxies and approximately 55 per cent by the IGM. We do not find any direct evidence of the so-called 'warm hot intergalactic medium' (i.e. matter with 10(exp 5) less than T less than 10(exp 7) K and density contrast delta less than 1000), but we estimated that it could produce about 1/7 of the unresolved CXB. We placed an upper limit on the space density of postulated X-ray-emitting early black holes at z greater than 7.5 and compared it with supermassive black hole evolution models.

galaxies↗

The C IV Mass Density of the Universe at Redshift 5(exp 1)

In order to search for metals in the Ly alpha forest at redshifts z(sub abs) > 4, we have obtained spectra of high signal-to-noise ratio and moderately high resolution of three QSOs at z(sub em) > 5.4 discovered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. These data allow us to probe to metal enrichment of the intergalactic medium at early times with higher sensitivity than previous studies. We find 16 C IV absorption systems with column densities logN(C IV) = 12.50-13.98 over a total redshift path Delta X = 3.29. In the redshift interval z = 4.5-5.0, where our statistics are most reliable, we deduce a comoving mass density of C(3+) ions Omega(sub C IV) = (4.3 +/- 2.5) x 10(exp -8) (90% confidence limits) for absorption systems with log N(C IV) > or = 13.0 (for an Einstein-de Sitter cosmology with h = 0.65). This value of Omega(sub C IV) is entirely consistent with those measured at z < 4; we confirm the earlier finding by Songaila that neither the column density distribution of C IV absorbers nor its integral show significant redshift evolution over a period of time that stretches from approx. 1.25 to approx. 4.5 Gyr after the big bang. This somewhat surprising conclusion may be an indication that the intergalactic medium was enriched in metals at z >> 5, perhaps by the sources responsible for its reionization. Alternatively, the C IV systems we see may be associated with outflows from massive star-forming galaxies at later times, while the truly intergalactic metals may reside in regions of the Ly alpha forest of lower density than those probed up to now.

Pettini, Max↗

LAGER Ly α Luminosity Function at z ~ 7: Implications for Reionization

We present a new measurement of the Lyα luminosity function (LF) at redshift z = 6.9, finding moderate evolution from z = 5.7 that is consistent with a fully or largely ionized z ~ 7 intergalactic medium. Our result is based on four fields of the LAGER (Lyman Alpha Galaxies in the Epoch of Reionization) project. Our survey volume of 6.1 × 10 6 Mpc 3 is double that of the next largest z ~ 7 survey. We combine two new LAGER fields (WIDE12 and GAMA15A) with two previously reported LAGER fields (COSMOS and CDFS). In the new fields, we identify N = 95 new z = 6.9 Lyα emitter (LAEs) candidates, characterize our survey's completeness and reliability, and compute Lyα LFs. The best-fit Schechter LF parameters for all four LAGER fields are in good general agreement. Two fields (COSMOS and WIDE12) show evidence for a bright-end excess above the Schechter function fit. We find that the Lyα luminosity density declines at the same rate as the UV continuum LF from z = 5.7 to 6.9. This is consistent with an intergalactic medium that was fully ionized as early as redshift z ~ 7 or with a volume-averaged neutral hydrogen fraction of x H I < 0.33 at 1σ.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The Extragalactic X-ray Background in the 0.2 - 2 keV Range

We made the first measurement of the extragalactic 0.7 keV background. We detected the X-ray shadow of a neutral gas cloud in the Magellanic Bridge. We further constrained the point-like source contribution based on the mean spectrum of detected sources and on our early autocorrelation function analysis of the background. We find that our measurement extragalactic background intensity is significantly greater than the total point-like source contribution expected if sources are responsible for all the observed background intensity in the 1-2 keV range. For a further confirmation of the theoretical prediction of the hot intergalactic medium, we have conducted a pilot project to search for enhanced X-ray-emitting features near rich clusters of galaxies. We have reported the discovery of an elongated complex of extended X-ray-emitting objects in and around the galaxy cluster A2125, based on an archival deep ROSAT/PSPC observation. Using multicolor optical imaging of galaxies in the field, we find that this complex represents a hierarchical superstructure spanning approx. 11 Mpc at the redshift approx. 0.247. The multiple peak X-ray morphology and large blue galaxy fraction of A2125 indicate that the cluster is undergoing a coalescence of subunits. The superstructure contains two additional clusters, projected at distances of only 3 and 4.3 Mpc from A2125. The most interesting feature is, however, the low-surface-brightness X-ray emission from a moderate galaxy concentration away from individual clusters. The emission likely arises in a hot (approx. 10(exp 7) K) intergalactic medium, as predicted in N-body/hydro simulations of structure formation. These results demonstrate the potential of X-ray observations as a powerful tool to study the large-scale structure of the universe.

Wang, Q. Daniel↗

A New Precision Measurement of the Small-scale Line-of-sight Power Spectrum of the Ly α Forest

We present a new measurement of the Lyα forest power spectrum at 1.8 < z < 3.4 using 74 Keck/HIRES and VLT/UVES high-resolution, high-signal-to-noise-ratio quasar spectra. We developed a custom pipeline to measure the power spectrum and its uncertainty, which fully accounts for finite resolution and noise and corrects for the bias induced by masking missing data, damped Lyα absorption systems, and metal absorption lines. Our measurement results in unprecedented precision on the small-scale modes $k\gt 0.02\,{\rm{s}}\,{\mathrm{km}}^{-1}$, inaccessible to previous SDSS/BOSS analyses. It is well known that these high-k modes are highly sensitive to the thermal state of the intergalactic medium, but contamination by narrow metal lines is a significant concern. We quantify the effect of metals on the small-scale power and find a modest effect on modes with $k\lt 0.1\,{\rm{s}}\,{\mathrm{km}}^{-1}$. As a result, by masking metals and restricting to $k\lt 0.1\,{\rm{s}}\,{\mathrm{km}}^{-1}$, their impact is completely mitigated. We present an end-to-end Bayesian forward-modeling framework whereby mock spectra with the same noise, resolution, and masking as our data are generated from Lyα forest simulations. These mock spectra are used to build a custom emulator, enabling us to interpolate between a sparse grid of models and perform Markov chain Monte Carlo fits. Our results agree well with BOSS on scales $k\lt 0.02\,{\rm{s}}\,{\mathrm{km}}^{-1}$, where the measurements overlap. The combination of the percent-level low-k precision of BOSS with our 5%–15% high-k measurements results in a powerful new data set for precisely constraining the thermal history of the intergalactic medium, cosmological parameters, and the nature of dark matter. Lastly, the power spectra and their covariance matrices are provided as electronic tables.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Outside the Lyman-break box: detecting Lyman continuum emitters at 3.5 < z < 5.1 with CLAUDS

ABSTRACT Identifying non-contaminated sample of high-redshift galaxies with escaping Lyman continuum (LyC) flux is important for understanding the sources and evolution of cosmic reionization. We present CLAUDS (CFHT Large Area u-band deep survey) u-band photometry of the COSMOS field to probe LyC radiation from spectroscopically confirmed galaxies at $z$ ≥ 3.5 and outside the standard Lyman-break galaxy colour-selection expectations. Complementary to the CLAUDS data, we use Subaru multifilter photometry, Hubble Space Telescope (HST) multifilter imaging, and the spectroscopic surveys D10K, VUDS, and 3D-HST. We present a sample of Lyman continuum galaxy (LCG) candidates in the redshift range 3.5 ≲ $z$ ≲ 5.1. Here, we introduce 5 LCG candidates, where two are flagged quality 1 and three quality 2. The estimated $f_{\rm esc}^{\rm abs}$ for quality 1 candidates are in the range $\sim 5 - 73{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ and $\sim 30 - 93{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$. These estimates are based on our derived parameters from individual galaxies as inputs to a range of BPASS models as well as mean intergalactic medium (IGM) and maximal intergalactic and circumgalactic media (IGM+CGM) transmission. We conclude that our search for LCGs is most likely biased to lines of sight with low H i densities or free from Lyman limit systems. Our two best LCG candidates have EW (Lyα) ≤ 50 Å and we find no correlation or anticorrelation between EW (Lyα), $f_{\rm esc}^{\rm abs}$, and Robs, the ratio of ionizing to non-ionizing observed flux in the measured passbands. Stacking candidates without solid LyC detections (S/N < 3) results in an estimated $f_{\rm esc}^{\rm abs}$ from galaxies not greater than $1{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$.

Meštrić, U.↗

The Bimodal Absorption System Imaging Campaign (BASIC). I. A Dual Population of Low-metallicity Absorbers at z < 1

The bimodal absorption system imaging campaign (BASIC) aims to characterize the galaxy environments of a sample of 36 H I-selected partial Lyman limit systems (pLLSs) and Lyman limit systems (LLSs) in 23 QSO fields at z ≲ 1. These pLLSs/LLSs provide a unique sample of absorbers with unbiased and well-constrained metallicities, allowing us to explore the origins of metal-rich and low-metallicity circumgalactic medium (CGM) at z < 1. Here we present Keck/KCWI and Very Large Telescope/MUSE observations of 11 of these QSO fields (19 pLLSs) that we combine with Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys imaging to identify and characterize the absorber-associated galaxies at 0.16 ≲ z ≲ 0.84. We find 23 unique absorber-associated galaxies, with an average of one associated galaxy per absorber. For seven absorbers, all with <10% solar metallicities, we find no associated galaxies with logM * ≳ 9.0 within ρ/R vir and |Δv|/v esc ≤ 1.5 with respect to the absorber. We do not find any strong correlations between the metallicities or H I column densities of the gas and most of the galaxy properties, except for the stellar mass of the galaxies: the low-metallicity ([X/H] ≤ –1.4) systems have a probability of $0.39_{–0.15}^{+0.16}$ for having a host galaxy with logM * ≥ 9.0 within ρ/R vir ≤ 1.5, while the higher metallicity absorbers have a probability of $0.78_{–0.13}^{+0.10}$. This implies metal-enriched pLLSs/LLSs at z < 1 are typically associated with the CGM of galaxies with logM * > 9.0, whereas low-metallicity pLLSs/LLSs are found in more diverse locations, with one population arising in the CGM of galaxies and another more broadly distributed in overdense regions of the universe. Using absorbers not associated with galaxies, we estimate the unweighted geometric mean metallicity of the intergalactic medium to be [X/H] ≲ –2.1 at z < 1, which is lower than previously estimated.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A Hydro-particle-mesh Code for Efficient and Rapid Simulations of the Intracluster Medium

We introduce the cosmological HYPER code based on an innovative hydro-particle-mesh (HPM) algorithm for efficient and rapid simulations of gas and dark matter. For the HPM algorithm, we update the approach of Gnedin & Hui to expand the scope of its application from the lower-density intergalactic medium (IGM) to the higher-density intracluster medium (ICM). While the original algorithm tracks only one effective particle species, the updated version separately tracks the gas and dark matter particles, as they do not exactly trace each other on small scales. For the approximate hydrodynamics solver, the pressure term in the gas equations of motion is calculated using robust physical models. In particular, we use a dark matter halo model, ICM pressure profile, and IGM temperature–density relation, all of which can be systematically varied for parameter-space studies. We show that the HYPER simulation results are in good agreement with the halo model expectations for the density, temperature, and pressure radial profiles. Simulated galaxy cluster scaling relations for Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) and X-ray observables are also in good agreement with mean predictions, with scatter comparable to that found in hydrodynamic simulations. HYPER also produces lightcone catalogs of dark matter halos and full-sky tomographic maps of the lensing convergence, SZ effect, and X-ray emission. These simulation products are useful for testing data analysis pipelines, generating training data for machine learning, understanding selection and systematic effects, and for interpreting astrophysical and cosmological constraints.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Intergalactic magnetic field studies by means of γ -ray emission from GRB 190114C

The presence of delayed GeV emission after a strong transient, such as a gamma-ray burst (GRB), in the very-high energy (VHE) E > 100 GeV band can be the signature of a nonzero magnetic field in the intergalactic medium. Here we used a synchrotron self-Compton multiwavelength model to infer an analytical description of the intrinsic VHE spectrum (corrected for absorption by the extragalactic background light) of GRB 190114C to predict the light curves and spectral energy distributions of the delayed emission with Monte Carlo simulations for different intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF) configurations (strengths B = 8 × 10 -21 G, 10 -20 G, 3 × 10 -20 G and correlation length $\lambda$ > 1 Mpc), and compared them with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi LAT) limits computed for several exposure times. We found that the Fermi LAT is not sensitive enough to constrain any IGMF strengths using GRB 190114C.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

MUSE Analysis of Gas around Galaxies (MAGG) – IV. The gaseous environment of z ∼ 3–4 Ly α emitting galaxies

ABSTRACT We study the link between galaxies and H i-selected absorption systems at z ∼ 3–4 in the MUSE Analysis of Gas around Galaxies (MAGG) survey, an ESO large programme consisting of integral field spectroscopic observations of 28 quasar fields hosting 61 strong absorbers with $\rm N_{\rm H\,{\small I}}\gtrsim 10^{16.5}~\rm cm^{-2}$. We identify 127 Ly α emitting galaxies (LAEs) around the absorbers, corresponding to a detection rate of 82 ± 16 per cent. The luminosity function of these LAEs is ≈5 times higher in normalization than the field population and we detect a significant clustering of galaxies with respect to the gas, confirming that high column density absorbers and LAEs trace each other. Between 30 and 40 per cent of the absorbers are associated with multiple LAEs, which lie preferentially along filaments. Galaxies in groups also exhibit a three times higher covering factor of optically thick gas compared to isolated systems. No significant correlations are identified between the emission properties of LAEs and the absorption properties of optically thick gas clouds, except for a weak preference of brighter and multiple galaxies to reside near broad absorbers. Based on the measured impact parameters and the covering factor, we conclude that the near totality of optically thick gas in the Universe can be found in the outer circumgalactic medium (CGM) of LAEs or in the intergalactic medium (IGM) in proximity to these galaxies. Thus, LAEs act as tracers of larger scale structures within which both galaxies and optically thick clouds are embedded. The patchy and inhomogeneous nature of the CGM and IGM explains the lack of correlations between absorption and emission properties. This implies that very large samples are needed to unveil the trends that encode the properties of the baryon cycle.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗

Cosmic Reionization on Computers: Statistics, Physical Properties, and Environments of Lyman Limit Systems at z ~ 6

Lyman limit systems (LLSs) are dense hydrogen clouds with high enough H i column densities to absorb Lyman continuum photons emitted from distant quasars. Their high column densities imply an origin in dense environments; however, the statistics and distribution of LLSs at high redshifts still remain uncertain. In this paper, we use self-consistent radiative transfer cosmological simulations from the Cosmic Reionization on Computers (CROC) project to study the physical properties of LLSs at the tail end of cosmic reionization at z ~ 6. We generate 3000 synthetic quasar sight lines to obtain a large number of LLS samples in the simulations. In addition, with the high physical fidelity and resolution of CROC, we are able to quantify the association between these LLS samples and nearby galaxies. Our results show that the fraction of LLSs spatially associated with nearby galaxies increases with H i column density. Moreover, we find that LLSs that are not near any galaxy typically reside in filamentary structures connecting neighboring galaxies in the intergalactic medium (IGM). This quantification of the distribution and association of LLSs to large-scale structure informs our understanding of the IGM–galaxy connection during the "Epoch of Reionization," and provides a theoretical basis for interpreting future observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Modelling the Lyman-α forest with Eulerian and SPH hydrodynamical methods

ABSTRACT We compare two state-of-the-art numerical codes to study the overall accuracy in modelling the intergalactic medium and reproducing Lyman-α forest observables for DESI and high-resolution data sets. The codes employ different approaches to solving both gravity and modelling the gas hydrodynamics. The first code, Nyx, solves the Poisson equation using the Particle-Mesh (PM) method and the Euler equations using a finite-volume method. The second code, CRK-HACC , uses a Tree-PM method to solve for gravity, and an improved Lagrangian smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) technique, where fluid elements are modelled with particles, to treat the intergalactic gas. We compare the convergence behaviour of the codes in flux statistics as well as the degree to which the codes agree in the converged limit. We find good agreement overall with differences being less than observational uncertainties, and a particularly notable ≲1 per cent agreement in the 1D flux power spectrum. This agreement was achieved by applying a tessellation methodology for reconstructing the density in CRK-HACC instead of using an SPH kernel as is standard practice. We show that use of the SPH kernel can lead to significant and unnecessary biases in flux statistics; this is especially prominent at high redshifts, z ∼ 5, as the Lyman-α forest mostly comes from lower-density regions that are intrinsically poorly sampled by SPH particles.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Optimal 1D Ly α forest power spectrum estimation – II. KODIAQ, SQUAD, and XQ-100

ABSTRACT We measure the 1D Ly α power spectrum P1D from Keck Observatory Database of Ionized Absorption toward Quasars (KODIAQ), The Spectral Quasar Absorption Database (SQUAD), and XQ-100 quasars using the optimal quadratic estimator. We combine KODIAQ and SQUAD at the spectrum level, but perform a separate XQ-100 estimation to control its large resolution corrections in check. Our final analysis measures P1D at scales k < 0.1 s km−1 between redshifts $z$ = 2.0–4.6 using 538 quasars. This sample provides the largest number of high-resolution, high-S/N observations; and combined with the power of optimal estimator it provides exceptional precision at small scales. These small-scale modes (k ≳ 0.02 s km−1), unavailable in Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument analyses, are sensitive to the thermal state and reionization history of the intergalactic medium, as well as the nature of dark matter. As an example, a simple Fisher forecast analysis estimates that our results can improve small-scale cut-off sensitivity by more than a factor of 2.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Lyman-α constraints on cosmic heating from dark matter annihilation and decay

We derive new constraints on models of decaying and annihilating dark matter (DM) by requiring that the energy injected into the intergalactic medium (IGM) not overheat it at late times, when measurements of the Lyman-α forest constrain the IGM temperature. We improve upon previous analyses by using the recently developed DarkHistory code package, which self-consistently takes into account additional photoionization and photoheating processes due to reionization and DM sources. Our constraints are robust to the uncertainties of reionization and competitive with leading limits on sub-GeV DM that decays preferentially to electrons

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗