Related papers: Quasar Absorption Lines
We investigate the relative distribution of the gaseous contents of the Universe (as traced by a sample of Lyman alpha (lya) absorbers), and the luminous baryonic matter (as traced by a redshift survey of galaxies in the same volume…
An experimental search for variation in the fundamental coupling constants is strongly motivated by modern high-energy physics theories. Comparison of quasar absorption line spectra with laboratory spectra provides a sensitive probe for…
We analyze the z=2 Ly-alpha and CIV forest along two adjacent lines-of-sight at high S/N and spectral resolution to assess the question of the origin of metals in the intergalactic medium. We find that the gas containing detectable amounts…
Cosmological simulations with gas provide a detailed description of the intergalactic medium, making possible predictions of neutral hydrogen absorption in the spectra of background QSOs. We present results from a high-resolution…
Recent observations have shown that (some) metal line absorption systems in QSO spectra arise from gas in galactic halos with radii much larger than the optical radii of galaxies. We show that the observed galaxy-absorber connections are…
We present measurements of the optical/UV emission lines for a large homogeneous sample of 993 quasars from the Large Bright Quasar Survey. Our largely automated technique accounts for continuum breaks and galactic reddening, and we perform…
Molecules dominate the cooling function of neutral metal-poor gas at high density. Observation of molecules at high redshift is thus an important tool toward understanding the physical conditions prevailing in collapsing gas. Up to now,…
We have produced a catalog of line identifications and equivalent width measurements for all absorption features in eight ultraviolet echelle quasar spectra. These spectra were selected as having the highest signal-to-noise among the…
We present high signal-to-noise, 5 A resolution (FWHM) spectra of 66 z \ga 4 bright quasars obtained with the 4 m Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory and 4.2 m William Hershel telescopes. The primary goal of these observations was to…
We employ detailed photoionization models to infer the physical conditions of intrinsic narrow absorption line systems found in high resolution spectra of three quasars at z=2.6-3.0. We focus on a family of intrinsic absorbers characterized…
Galaxies are surrounded by large reservoirs of gas, mostly hydrogen, fed by inflows from the intergalactic medium and by outflows due to galactic winds. Absorption-line measurements along the sightlines to bright and rare background quasars…
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 extraordinarily bright quasar PHL 1811 at a redshift z = 0.192 provides an attractive opportunity to use ultraviolet absorption-line spectroscopy to study the properties of gas systems in the local universe. An R = 20,000 far-UV…
We present a sample of 46 [OIII]-emitting galaxies at z<0.8 detected in the fibre spectra of quasars from the SDSS-DR7 through an automatic search procedure. We also detect [OII] and Hb emission lines from most of these galaxies in the SDSS…
Strong absorption lines are common in rest-frame UV spectra of AGNs due to a variety of resonant transitions, for example the HI Lyman series lines (most notably Ly-alpha 1216) and high-ionization doublets like CIV 1549,1551. The lines are…
The comparison of quasar absorption spectra with numerically simulated spectra from hierarchical cosmological models of structure formation promises to be a valuable tool to discriminate among these models. We present simulation results for…
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…
Some recent results are presented about high redshift molecular absorption lines, namely about chemical abundances of elements, and in particular of water and molecular oxygen. Excitation temperatures of several molecules are found lower…
We present a high-resolution spectrum of the high redshift, lensed quasar Q1208+1101, obtained with the echellette spectrograph on the Multiple Mirror Telescope. We examine the new and published spectra and provide an updated list of…
We study the contents of an apparent void in the distribution of Ly-alpha emitting galaxies at redshift 2.38. We show that this void is not empty, but contains a damped Ly-alpha absorption-line system, seen in absorption against background…