Related papers: Quasar Absorption Lines and the Intergalactic Medi…
We explore the multiphase structure of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) probed by synthetic spectra through a cosmological zoom-in galaxy formation simulation. We employ a Bayesian method for modelling a combination of absorption lines to…
We summarize the attempts by our group and others to derive constraints on variations of fundamental constants over cosmic time using quasar absorption lines. Most upper limits reside in the range 0.5-1.5x10-5 at the 3sigma level over a…
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 present our investigation into the physical conditions of the gas in five intervening quasar absorption line systems along the line of sight toward the quasar PG 0117+213, with redshifts of z=0.57, z=0.72, z=1.04, z=1.32 and z=1.34.…
This is the first in a series of three papers describing a project with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope to measure abundances of the neutral interstellar medium (ISM) in a sample of 9 nearby star-forming…
We present basic data and modeling for a survey of the cool, photo-ionized Circum-Galactic Medium (CGM) of low-redshift galaxies using far-UV QSO absorption line probes. This survey consists of "targeted" and "serendipitous" CGM subsamples,…
We model the requirements on observational data that would allow an accurate determination of the degree of association between Lyman alpha absorbers and peaks in the redshift distribution of galaxies (large-scale structures like clusters…
A large, high-quality spectral data base of well-selected, moderate-redshift radio-loud and radio-quiet quasars is used to characterize the incidence of narrow associated CIV lambda 1549 absorption, and how this may depend on some quasar…
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…
In this two-paper series, we present a straightforward mathematical model for synthesizing quasar absorption line profiles from sight lines through idealized, spatial-kinematic models of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) and their host…
The determination of chemical composition is crucial for investigating the formation and evolution of star forming galaxies and provides a powerful tool to constrain the effects of galactic winds and accretion from the cosmic web. In this…
We list and analyze H I absorption lines at redshifts 2 < z < 4 with column density (12 < log(N_HI) < 19) in 40 high-resolutional (FWHM = 8.0 km/s) quasar spectra obtained with the Keck+HIRES. We de-blend and fit all H I lines within 1,000…
Quasars, as the most luminous persistent sources in the Universe, have broad applications for cosmological studies. In particular, they can be employed to directly measure the expansion history of the Universe, similarly to SNe Ia. The…
Ro-vibrational absorption lines of H$_2$O in the 5-8 $\mu$m wavelength range selectively probe gas against the mid-infrared continuum emitting background of the inner regions of YSOs and AGN and deliver important information about these…
Gas-rich galaxies are selected efficiently via quasar absorption lines. Recently, a new perspective on such absorption-selected systems has opened up by studying the molecular gas content of absorber host galaxies using ALMA CO emission…
Quasar absorption systems not only affect the way quasars are selected, but also serve as key probes of galaxies, providing insight into their chemical evolution and interstellar medium (ISM). Recently, a method based on Gaia astrometric…
We analyze high-resolution ultraviolet spectra of three nearby exoplanet host stars (HD 192310, HD 9826, and HD 206860) to study interstellar properties along their lines of sight and to search for the presence of astrospheric absorption.…
Soft X-ray photoelectric absorption of high-z quasars has been known for two decades, but has no unambiguous astro-physical context. We construct the largest sample to date of 58 high redshift quasars (z > 0.45) selected from the XMM-Newton…
The Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM) arises from shock-heated gas collapsing in large-scale filaments and probably harbours a substantial fraction of the baryons in the local Universe. Absorption-line measurements in the ultraviolet…
This article reviews three related topics: the extragalactic background l ight and its sources, evolution models for the dust absorption and emission in galaxies, and empirical constraints on these transfer pr ocesses in nearby starburst…