Related papers: Probing the Dark Ages with Metal Absorption Lines
We present HST spectra for a sample of six QSOs with intermediate redshift (z_a < 1) damped Ly-alpha systems. These observations aim at measuring the HI column density and detect metal lines in order to investigate the metal enrichment of…
We study the evolution of the ionization state of the IGM at the end of the reionization epoch using spectra of a sample of nineteen quasars at 5.74<z<6.42 discovered in the SDSS. Three methods are used to trace IGM properties: (a) the…
The reionization of hydrogen in the intergalactic medium (IGM) is a crucial landmark in the history of the universe, but the processes through which it occurs remain mysterious. In particular, recent numerical and analytic work suggest that…
We present Gemini near-infrared spectroscopic observations of six luminous quasars at z=5.8$\sim$6.3. Five of them were observed using Gemini-South/GNIRS, which provides a simultaneous wavelength coverage of 0.9--2.5 $\mu$m in cross…
We present the analysis of five O VI absorbers identified across a redshift path of z $\sim (0.6 - 1.3)$ towards the background quasar PG $1522+101$ with information on five consecutive ionization stages of oxygen from O II to O VI. The…
A model of the density distribution in the intergalactic medium, motivated by that found in numerical simulations, is used to demonstrate the effect of a clumpy IGM and discrete sources on the reionization of the universe. In an…
In typical astrophysical environments, the abundance of heavy elements ranges from 0.001 to 2 times the solar concentration. Lower abundances have been seen in select stars in the Milky Way's halo and in two quasar absorption systems at…
Intervening metal absorption lines in the spectra of z > 6 quasars are fundamental probes of the ionization state and chemical composition of circumgalactic and intergalactic gas near the end of the reionization epoch. Large absorber…
It is generally taken for granted that reionization has completed by z=6, due to the detection of flux in the Lyman alpha forest at redshifts z<6. However, since reionization is expected to be highly inhomogeneous, much of the spectra pass…
We report the discovery of two iron-group enhanced high-metallicity Mg II absorbers in a search through 28 Lyman Alpha forest clouds along the PKS 0454+039 sight line. Based upon our survey and the measured redshift number densities of…
We present a detailed study of HI and metals for 110 MgII absorption systems discovered at 1.98 <= z <= 5.33 in the infrared spectra of high redshift QSOs. Using new measurements of rest-frame UV lines from optical spectra of the same…
We investigate the metal species associated with the Ly$\alpha$ forest in the eBOSS quasar spectra. Metal absorption lines are revealed in the stacked spectra from cross-correlating the selected Ly$\alpha$ absorbers in the forest and the…
Direct detection of regions of ionized hydrogen (HII) has been suggested as a promising probe of cosmic reionization. Observing the redshifted 21-cm signal of hydrogen from the epoch of reionization (EoR) is a key scientific driver behind…
We have obtained high resolution (FWHM = 4.4 km/s) Keck spectra of images A and C of the gravitationally lensed QSO Q1422+231. The images are separated by 1.3" on the sky. In an absorption system at z = 3.538 gas column density variations…
If the universe was reionized by O and B stars in an early population of galaxies, the associated supernovae should have enriched the universe to a mean metallicity $\bar Z = 10^{-5} (1+ n_{rec})$, where $n_{rec}$ is the mean number of…
Proximate molecular quasar absorbers (PH2) are an intriguing population of absorption systems recently uncovered through strong H2 absorption at small velocity separation from the background quasars. We performed a multi-wavelength…
We present the equivalent width and column density measurements for low and intermediate ionization states of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) surrounding 44 low-z, L ~ L* galaxies drawn from the COS-Halos survey. These measurements are…
We interpret observations of intergalactic low ionisation metal absorption systems at redshifts z $\gtrsim$5 in terms of pressure-confined clouds. We find clouds confined by the expected pressure of galactic haloes with masses $11<\log…
Cosmic reionization is expected to be complex, extended and very inhomogeneous. Existing constraints at z~6 on the volume-averaged neutral hydrogen fraction, <x_HI>, are highly model-dependent and controversial. Constraints at z<6,…
The transmission of Lyman-{\alpha} (Ly{\alpha}) in the spectra of distant quasars depends on the density, temperature, and ionization state of the intergalactic medium (IGM). Therefore, high-redshift (z > 5) Ly{\alpha} forests could be…