Related papers: Column density distribution of galactic Ly-alpha a…
We present results of an ongoing program to study the gaseous extent of galaxies and the origin of QSO absorption line systems. For \lya absorption systems, we find that absorption equivalent width depends strongly on galaxy impact…
It is suggested that a significant fraction of the low column-density absorption features seen in the spectra of quasars are produced in pressure-confined tidal debris, that was built up in small groups and clusters of galaxies over a…
Cold gas streaming along the dark-matter filaments of the cosmic web is predicted to be the major provider of resources for disc buildup, violent disk instability and star formation in massive galaxies in the early universe. We study to…
Lyman alpha absorber correlations contain information about the underlying density distribution associated with a particular class of absorbers. As such, they provide an opportunity to independently measure the "bias" of the Lyman alpha…
Hydrodynamic cosmological simulations predict that the average opacity of the Ly-alpha forest should increase in the neighborhood of galaxies because galaxies form in dense environments. Recent observations (Adelberger et al. 2002) confirm…
We have measured the column density distribution function, f(N), at z=0 using 21-cm HI emission from galaxies selected from a blind HI survey. f(N) is found to be smaller and flatter at z=0 than indicated by high-redshift measurements of…
Motivated by recent observation of Lanzetta et al. that most luminous galaxies at low redshifts produce $\lya$ absorption at impact parameter $l\lsim 160 \kpch$, we propose that these absorbers are clouds confined by the pressure of ambient…
We present STIS 7km/s resolution data of the Ly-a forest toward PKS0405-123 (z=0.574). We make two samples. The strong sample (60 systems) has column density logNHI>13.3 over 0.002<z<0.423, and the weak sample (44) has logNHI>13.1 at…
Simulations predict that circumgalactic hydrogen gas surrounding massive ($M_{\rm{halo}}^{z=1}=10^{12}-10^{13}\ M_{\odot}$) galaxies at $z\sim4$ may be predominantly neutral, and could produce damped Ly$\alpha$ absorbers (DLAs) along…
We investigate the column density distribution function of neutral hydrogen at redshift z = 3 using a cosmological simulation of galaxy formation from the OverWhelmingly Large Simulations (OWLS) project. The base simulation includes…
We discuss the effects of gravitational collapse on the shape of absorption line profiles for low column density (log N(HI) < 14) Lyman Alpha forest clouds and argue by comparison with cosmological simulations that Lyman alpha forest…
We combine predictions for several hierarchical cosmogonies with observational evidence on damped Lyman alpha systems to establish a correspondence between the high redshift galaxy population and the properties of damped Lyman alpha…
Neutral hydrogen traces gravitational potentials. In the nearby universe, 21cm emission-line surveys show that the bulk of the HI resides in well-formed, optically-luminous galaxies. At high redshift, 21cm line absorption against background…
The last few years have seen a dramatic improvement in our understanding of the origin of Lyman alpha absorption systems. Hydrodynamic numerical simulations of cold dark matter dominated universes have shown that the many properties of the…
We describe recent discoveries of low column density [N(HI) < 10^14.5 cm^-2] H I Ly-alpha absorbers made with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), which have allowed us a first look at gas in local intergalactic space between us and the "Great…
We present results from a spectroscopic and imaging survey of galaxies in the fields of quasars from the HST Quasar Absorption Line Key Project. The aim of this survey is to identify galaxies within 3.5' from the quasar sightline, to a…
Here we describe results of our attempt to determine what types of galaxies are responsible for the Lyman-alpha forest absorption systems, based on our ongoing imaging and spectroscopic survey of faint galaxies in fields of HST…
We construct a simple, robust model of the chemical evolution of galaxies from high to low redshift, and apply it to published observations of damped Lyman-alpha quasar absorption line systems (DLAs). The elementary model assumes quiescent…
We present a model for the Lyman-alpha absorbers that treats all objects (from the low-density forest clouds to the dense damped systems) in a unified description. This approach is consistent with an earlier model of galaxies (luminosity…
The origin and evolution of structure in the Universe is one of the major questions occupying astronomers today. An understanding of the Lyalpha absorbers seen in QSO spectra is an important part of this program since such absorbers can be…