Related papers: Heavy element enrichment in the IGM at high redshi…
We present the analysis of the X-ray spectra of 18 distant clusters of galaxies with redshift 0.3 < z < 1.3. Most of them were observed with the Chandra satellite in long exposures ranging from 36 ks to 180 ks. For two of the z>1 clusters…
Using a sample of 57 VLT FORS spectra in the redshift range 1.37<z<3.40 (selected mainly from the FORS Deep Field survey) and a comparison sample with 36 IUE spectra of local (z ~ 0) starburst galaxies we derive CIV and SiIV equivalent…
The Interstellar Medium (ISM) comprises gases at different temperatures and densities, including ionized, atomic, molecular species, and dust particles. The neutral ISM is dominated by neutral hydrogen and has ionization fractions up to 8%.…
We report the serendipitous detection of a 0.2 L$^*$, Lyman-$\alpha$ emitting galaxy at redshift 2.5 at an impact parameter of 50 kpc from a bright background QSO sightline. A high-resolution spectrum of the QSO reveals a partial…
We use cosmological hydrodynamic simulations including galactic feedback based on observations of local starbursts to find a self-consistent evolutionary model capable of fitting the observations of the intergalactic metallicity history as…
We present a high S/N ratio optical spectrum of the bright quasar HS1700+6416. These data usefully complement the UV HST data from Vogel and Reimers (1995). We analyse the metal line systems using photo-ionization models allowing for…
With the installation of the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope, measurements of the metal content of the low redshift intergalactic medium (IGM) are now available. Using a new grid-based model for diffuse gas coupled…
We study the distribution and evolution of highly ionised intergalactic metals in the Evolution and Assembly of Galaxies and their Environment (EAGLE) cosmological, hydrodynamical simulations. EAGLE has been shown to reproduce a wide range…
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 $11<\log…
The recent discovery of carbon in close to half of the low neutral hydrogen column density [$N({\rm H~I}) > 3\ten{14}\cm2$] Lyman forest clouds toward $z \sim 3$ quasars has challenged the widely held view of this forest as a chemically…
Using archival Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data, we have assembled a survey of eight sightlines through high-velocity cloud Complex C. Abundances of the observed ion species vary…
We investigate the properties of triply ionized Carbon (CIV) in the Intergalactic Medium using a set of high-resolution and large box-size cosmological hydrodynamic simulations of a $\Lambda$CDM model. We rely on a modification of the…
We search for OVI absorption in a Keck HIRES spectrum of the z=3.62 quasar Q1422+231. Comparison of CIV measurements to cosmological simulations shows that \lya forest absorbers with N_HI > 10^{14.5} have [C/H]~=-2.5, for the UV background…
An extremely careful separation of the weak metal-line systems relating to the Lyman forest absorbers into individual ``single-phase ionization'' components with accurate parameters has yielded a large sample in the wide redshift range 1.9…
Theoretical and observational arguments suggest that the intergalactic medium (IGM) might have been polluted with metals produced by early star formation. In this scenario, Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) at redshift z=3 are likely to be…
Keck HIRES spectra were obtained of the separate images of three gravitationally lensed QSOs (UM 673, Q1104-1804, and Q1422+2309). We studied the velocity and column density differences in CIV doublets in each QSO. Unlike the low ionization…
Absorption-line spectroscopy of 23 background QSOs and numerous background galaxies has let us measure the spatial distribution of metals and neutral hydrogen around 1044 UV-selected galaxies at redshifts 1.8<z<3.3. The typical galaxy is…
Low ionization metal absorption due to OI has been identified as an important probe of the physical state of the inter-/circumgalactic medium at the tail-end of reionization. We use here high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations to interpret…
We present model calculations of ionization fractions for elements in the warm (log T = 4), low-density photoionized interstellar medium (WIM) of the Milky Way. We model the WIM as a combination of overlapping low-excitation H II regions…
Cosmic metal enrichment is one of the key physical processes regulating galaxy formation and the evolution of the intergalactic medium (IGM). However, determining the metal content of the most distant galaxies has proven so far almost…