Related papers: A Lower Bound on the Cosmic Baryon Density
We present a new measurement of the deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio (D/H) in the Lyman limit absorption system at $z = 3.572$ towards Q1937--1009. We use an improved method to measure D/H in QSO absorption systems, which includes extra…
We set new constraints on a seven-dimensional space of cosmological parameters within the class of inflationary adiabatic models. We use the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background measured over a wide range of \ell in the…
The sky-averaged (global) 21-cm signal is a powerful probe of the intergalactic medium (IGM) prior to the completion of reionization. However, it has so far been unclear that even in the best case scenario, in which the signal is accurately…
The circumgalactic medium (CGM) around galaxies is believed to record various forms of galaxy feedback and contain a significant portion of the "missing baryons" of individual dark matter halos. However, clear observational evidence for the…
The shallow potential wells of star-forming dwarf galaxies make their surrounding circumgalactic and intergalactic medium (CGM/IGM) sensitive laboratories for studying the inflows and outflows thought to regulate galaxy evolution. We…
Cosmological hydrodynamic simulations predict the physical state of baryons in the circumgalactic medium (CGM), which can be directly tested via quasar absorption line observations. We use high resolution "zoom-in" simulations of 21…
The intergalactic medium (IGM) comprises all the matter that lies between galaxies. Hosting the vast majority ($\gtrsim 90\%$) of the baryons in the Universe, the IGM is a critical reservoir and probe for cosmology and astrophysics,…
The theory of Big Bang nucleosynthesis, coupled with an estimate of the primordial deuterium abundance (D/H)_pr, offers insights into the baryon density of the Universe. Independently, the baryon density can be constrained during a…
The recently observed Deuterium abundance in a low- metallicity high-redshift hydrogen cloud, which is about ten times larger than that observed in the near interstellar medium, is that expected from the Standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis…
We perform the first measurement of the thermal and ionization state of the intergalactic medium (IGM) across 0.9 < z < 1.5 using 301 \lya absorption lines fitted from 12 HST STIS quasar spectra, with a total pathlength of \Delta z=2.1. We…
We present two measurements of the temperature-density relationship (TDR) of the intergalactic medium (IGM) in the redshift range $2.55 < z < 2.95$ using a sample of 13 high-quality quasar spectra and high resolution numerical simulations…
We incorporate quasars into an analytic model to describe the reheating and reionization of the universe. In combination with a previous study of galaxies and Lyman-$\alpha$ clouds, we are able to provide a unified description of structure…
The cosmological vacuum decay scenario recently proposed by Wang and Meng \cite{wm} is rediscussed. From thermodynamic arguments it is found that the $\epsilon$ parameter quantifying the vacuum decay rate must be positive in the presence of…
At low redshift, only about one-tenth of the known baryons lie in galaxies or the hot gas seen in galaxy clusters and groups. Models posit that these "missing baryons" are in gaseous form in overdense filaments that connect the much denser…
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…
From the analysis of the near-UV spectrum of the QSO 2206-199, obtained with a long series of exposures with STIS on the HST, we deduce a value (D/H) = (1.65 +/- 0.35) x 10(-5) (1 sigma error) for the abundance of deuterium in the z(abs) =…
We have performed high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations of the Lyman-alpha forest in a variety of popular cold dark matter dominated cosmologies, including a low density and a vacuum-dominated model. The fluctuation amplitude of these…
At low redshifts, a census of the baryons in all known reservoirs falls a factor of two to four below the total baryon density predicted from Big Bang nucleosynthesis arguments and observed light element ratios. Recent cosmological…
We investigate the evolution and the statistical properties of the Lya absorbers of the intergalactic medium (IGM) in the largely unexplored redshift range z=0.5-1.9. We use high-resolution (R > 30,000) UV (STIS) and optical (VLT/UVES and…
At low redshift (z<2), almost half of the baryons in the Universe are not found in bound structures like galaxies and clusters and therefore most likely reside in a Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM), as predicted by simulations. Attempts…