Related papers: Two-phase equilibrium and molecular hydrogen forma…
We study the formation of damped \lya and Lyman limit absorbers in a hierarchical clustering scenario using a gas dynamical simulation of an $\Omega = 1$, cold dark matter universe. In the simulation, these high column density systems are…
We study the physical conditions in DLAs, using a sample of 33 systems toward 26 QSOs acquired for a recently completed survey of H_2 by Ledoux et al. (2003). We use the column densities of H_2 in different rotational levels, together with…
We present the direct detection of molecular hydrogen at the highest redshift known today (z_abs=4.224) in a Damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) system toward the quasar PSS J1443+2724. This absorber is remarkable for having one of the highest…
We have determined the metallicity of the $z_{abs} = 1.0093$ damped Lyman alpha system in the bright QSO EX 0302-223; this is only the third such measurement at redshifts $z \simlt 1$. Unlike the previous two cases, we find that the…
We present a low-redshift (z=0.029) Damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) system in the spectrum of a background Quasi-Stellar Object (QSO). The DLA is associated with an interacting galaxy pair within a galaxy group. We detected weak Lyman-alpha…
We present a detailed analysis of a high resolution spectrum of the damped Ly$\alpha$ system at $z_{\rm abs}$~=~2.8112toward PKS~0528-250. The absorption redshift is slightly larger than the emission redshift of the quasar. We estimate the…
Measuring rest-frame ultraviolet rotational transitions from the Lyman and Werner bands in absorption against a bright background continuum is one of the few ways to directly measure molecular hydrogen (H2). Here we report the detection of…
We report the detection of H_2, CI, CI*, CI** and Cl I lines in a near Solar-metallicity ([Zn/H]=-0.13) damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) system at z_abs=1.962 observed on the line of sight to the quasar Q 0551-366. The iron-peak elements, X=Fe, Cr…
We report new HST and ground-based observations of a damped Lyman-alpha absorption system toward the QSO 0850+4400. The redshift of the absorption system is z = 0.163770 and the neutral hydrogen column density of the absorption system is…
We discuss interstellar temperature determinations using the excitation equilibrium of the ^2P levels of Si II and C II. We show how observations of the ^2P_3/2 fine structure levels of Si II and C II (which have significantly different…
Detailed analysis of the spectral lines from two low redshift damped Lyman alpha absorbers (DLA) confirms that they are a heterogeneous population. Both systems have low metal abundances of approximately 0.05 to 0.1 solar. The abundance…
Damped Lyman-alpha systems (DLAs) are useful probes of star formation and galaxy formation at high redshift. We study the physical properties of DLAs and their relationship to Lyman-break galaxies using cosmological hydrodynamic simulations…
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…
In this paper we analyze the kinematics, chemistry, and physical properties of a sample of the most metal-poor damped Lyman-alpha systems (DLAs), to uncover their links to modern-day galaxies. We present evidence that the DLA population as…
Although the Cold + Hot Dark Matter (CHDM) cosmology provides perhaps the best fit of any model to all the available data at the current epoch, CHDM produces structure at relatively low redshifts and thus could be ruled out if there were…
Damped Lyman-alpha systems seen in spectra of background quasars are generally thought to represent high redshift counterparts of present-day galaxies. We summarize observations of heavy element abundances in damped Lyman-alpha systems. The…
In massive primordial galaxies, the gas may directly collapse and form a single central massive object if cooling is suppressed. Line cooling by molecular hydrogen can be suppressed in the presence of a strong soft-ultraviolet radiation…
We present a spectroscopic investigation with VLT/X-shooter of seven candidate extremely strong damped Lyman-$\alpha$ absorption systems (ESDLAs, $N(\text{HI})\ge 5\times 10^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$) observed along quasar sightlines. We confirm the…
We present the study of CI/H$_2$ relative abundance in the diffuse cold neutral medium. Using the chemical and thermal balance model we calculated the dependence of CI/H$_2$ on the main parameters of the medium: hydrogen number density,…
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…