Related papers: Nitrogen Abundances in Damped Ly alpha Galaxies
We present 4 new measurements of nitrogen abundances and one upper limit in damped Lyman alpha absorbers (DLAs) obtained by means of high resolution (FWHM \~ 7 km/s) UVES/VLT spectra. In addition to these measurements we have compiled data…
Damped Ly_alpha galaxies provide a sample of young galaxies where chemical abundances can be derived throughout the whole universe with an accuracy comparable to that for the local universe. Despite a large spread in redshift, HI column…
Nitrogen is thought to have both primary and secondary origins depending on whether the seed carbon and oxygen are produced by the star itself (primary) or already present in the interstellar medium (secondary) from which star forms. DLA…
Relative elemental abundances, and in particular the alpha/Fe ratio, are an important diagnostic tool of the chemical evolution of damped Ly alpha systems (DLAs). The S/Zn ratio is not affected by differential dust depletion and is an…
We take a fresh look at the abundance of nitrogen in DLAs with oxygen abundances between 1/10 and 1/100 of solar. This is a metallicity regime poorly sampled in the local universe and where QSO absorbers may hold clues to both the…
We study the Oxygen and Nitrogen abundances in the interstellar medium of high-redshift galaxies. We use high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio spectra of Damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) systems detected along the line-of-sight to quasars…
We investigate the evolutionary history of the Universe's metal content focusing on the chemical abundance of several elements (N, O, S, Si, Fe, Cr, Zn) taken from observational data and predictions from chemical evolution models. The…
The effects of the dust on the determination of elemental abundances in damped Ly alpha (DLA) absorbers are investigated. Relations between the observed abundances measured in the gas phase and the overall abundances (gas plus dust) are…
Recent measurements of nitrogen and alpha elements in over 20 damped Ly-alpha systems (DLA) are compared with similar measurements for numerous emission line objects and stars. It is found that the DLA distribution in the N/alpha-alpha/H…
We present high-resolution UES spectra of the quasar PHL 957 obtained for studying the foreground Damped Ly-alpha galaxy at z=2.309. Measurements of absorption lines lead to accurate abundance determinations of Fe, S and N which complement…
In this paper we point out a previously unnoticed anticorrelation between the observed abundance ratio [X/Zn] (where Zn is assumed to be undepleted and X stands for the refractories Fe, Cr and Ni) and metal column density…
We analyse a sample of 24 damped Lyman-alpha (DLA)/moderate DLA systems at 0.3<z<2.2, all with measurement of the weak MnII absorption lines, to investigate which elemental ratios could possibly be used as tracers of either dust depletion…
Studies of elemental abundances are a fundamental tool for unveiling the nature of the high-redshift (proto-)galaxies associated to Damped Ly alpha systems (DLAs). The present contribution analyses the impact of dust and ionization effects…
High redshift DLA systems suggest that the relative abundances of elements might be roughly solar, although with absolute abundances of more than two orders of magnitude below solar. The result comes from observations of the [SII/ZnII]…
Using our sample of the most metal-rich damped Lyman $\alpha$ systems (DLAs) at z$\sim2$, and two literature compilations of chemical abundances in 341 DLAs and 2818 stars, we present an analysis of the chemical composition of DLAs in the…
We explore the redshift evolution of the metal content of damped Lyman alpha systems (DLAs) with new observations of four absorbers at z < 1.5 . The main conclusion is that the column density--weighted mean metallicity, [<Zn/H>] = -1.03 +/-…
The evolution of the metallicity of damped Lyman alpha systems (DLAs) is investigated in order to understand the nature of these systems. The observational data on chemical abundances of DLAs are analysed with robust statistical methods,…
We study the nature of Damped Lyman -Alpha systems (DLAs) by means of a comparison between observed abundances and models of chemical evolution of galaxies of different morphological type. In particular, we compare for the first time the…
Damped Ly alpha clouds provide information on the chemistry of distant and metal poor regions of the universe. In these clouds for observational difficulties N and O are among the last elements to be measured, and C has still to be measured…
We have investigated chemical evolution in the young universe by analysing the detailed chemical enrichment pattern of a metal-rich galaxy at high redshift. The recent detection of over 20 elements in the gas-phase of a damped Lyman-alpha…