Related papers: Damped Lyman Alpha Systems in Galaxy Formation Sim…
Sub-damped Lyman-alpha systems (sub-DLAs) have previously been found to exhibit a steeper metallicity evolution than the classical damped Lyman-alpha systems (DLAs), evolving to close to solar metallicity by z~1. From new high-resolution…
We estimate the intrinsic neutral gas density in Damped Lyman Alpha systems ($\Omega_{HI}^{(DLA)}$) in the redshift range $ 2.2 \lesssim z \lesssim 5$ from the DLA SDSS DR_3 sample of optically selected quasars. We take into account…
Observations of damped Lyman alpha systems offer a unique window on the neutral-gas reservoirs that gave rise to galaxies at high redshifts. This review focuses on critical properties such as the H I and metal content of the gas and on…
Using galaxies as background light sources to map the Lya absorption lines is a novel approach to study Damped Lya Absorbers (DLAs). We report the discovery of an intervening z = 3.335 +- 0.007 DLA along a galaxy sight-line identified among…
[Abridged] We test the reliability of a method to measure the mean halo mass of Damped Ly-alpha absorbers (DLAs). The method is based on measuring the ratio of the cross-correlation between DLAs and galaxies to the auto-correlation of the…
We present the first results from an ongoing survey for Damped Lyman-alpha systems (DLAs) in the spectra of z>2 quasars observed in the course of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), which is part of the Sloan Digital Sky…
We calculate in detail the expected properties of low redshift DLA systems under the assumption that they arise in the gaseous disks of galaxies like those in the z=0 population. A sample of 355 nearby galaxies is analysed, for which high…
Lyman limit and damped Lyman-alpha absorption systems probe the distribution of collapsed, cold gas at high redshift. Numerical simulations that incorporate gravity and gas dynamics can predict the abundance of such absorbers in…
We examine the kinematic structure of Damped Lyman-alpha Systems (DLAs) in a series of cosmological hydrodynamic simulations using the AREPO code. We are able to match the distribution of velocity widths of associated low ionisation metal…
We derive the statistical properties of neutral gas at redshifts 0.11<z<1.65 from UV measurements of quasar Lyman alpha absorption lines corresponding to 369 MgII systems with $W^{\lambda2796}_{0} \ge 0.3$ \AA. In addition to the 41 damped…
We are exploring the connection between damped Ly-alpha absorbers (DLAs) and Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) using deep -- (5sigma)=26 m_{AB}-- broad band imaging (UBVI) of four wide fields (0.25 sq. deg. each) obtained at the Kitt Peak 4-m…
To constrain the conditions for very early nucleosynthesis in the Universe we compare the chemical enrichment pattern of an extremely metal-poor damped Lyman alpha (DLA) absorber with predictions from recent explosive nucleosynthesis model…
We present metal abundances in 15 damped Lyman alpha systems (DLAs) from the Complete Optical and Radio Absorption Line System (CORALS) survey, designed to be free from any biasing effects due to extinction of QSOs by dust in intervening…
We use high resolution Eulerian hydrodynamics simulations to study kinematic properties of the low ionization species in damped Ly-alpha systems at redshift z=3. Our adaptive mesh refinement simulations include most key ingredients relevant…
The similarity between observed velocity structures of Al III and singly ionised species in damped Lyman-alpha systems (DLAs) suggests the presence of ionised gas in the regions where most metal absorption lines are formed. To explore the…
We present results from an ongoing search for galaxy counterparts of a subgroup of Quasar Absorption Line Systems called Damped Ly-alpha Absorbers (DLAs). DLAs have several characteristics that make them essential in the process of…
We have initiated a survey using the newly commissioned X-shooter spectrograph to target candidate relatively metal-rich damped Lyman-alpha absorbers (DLAs). The spectral coverage of X-shooter allows us to search for not only Lyman-alpha…
We use a model of galaxy disk formation to explore the metallicities, dust content, and neutral-gas mass density of damped Lyman-$\alpha$ (D\lya) absorbers. We find that the [Zn/H] abundance measurements of D\lya systems now available can…
The similarity between observed velocity structures of Al III and singly ionized species in damped Lyman-alpha systems (DLAs) suggests the presence of ionized gas in the regions where most metal absorption lines are formed. A simplified…
We present 4 new measurements of nitrogen abundances and one upper limit in damped Lyman alpha absorbers (DLAs) obtained by means of high resolution (FWHM \~ 7 km/s) UVES/VLT spectra. In addition to these measurements we have compiled data…