Related papers: Element Abundances at High Redshifts
I briefly draw comparisons between the fields of damped Lya and metal-poor stellar abundances. In particular, I examine their complementary age-metallicity relations and comparisons between the damped Lya and dwarf galaxy abundance…
Recent data on the high--redshift abundance of damped Ly$\alpha$ systems are compared with theoretical predictions for `blue' (i.e. $n>1$) Mixed Dark Matter models. The results show that decreasing the hot component fraction $\Omega_\nu$…
We present a measurement of the Lyman alpha flux probability distribution function (PDF) measured from a set of eight high resolution quasar spectra with emission redshifts at 3.3 < z < 3.8. We carefully study the effect of metal absorption…
We combine predictions for several hierarchical cosmogonies with observational evidence on damped Lyman alpha systems to establish a correspondence between the high redshift galaxy population and the properties of damped Lyman alpha…
Evidence is presented that the damped Lyman alpha absorption systems are the high-redshift (z > 3) progenitors of galaxy disks. I discuss kinematic evidence that the damped Lyman Alpha systems are rotating disks. I also discuss implications…
Recent results have shown that a substantial fraction of high-redshift Lyman alpha galaxies contain considerable amounts of dust. This implies that Lyman alpha galaxies are not primordial, as has been thought in the past. However, this dust…
We present new Keck/HIRES data of the most metal-poor damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) system currently known. By targeting the strongest accessible Fe II features, we have improved the upper limit of the [Fe/H] abundance determination by ~1 dex,…
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…
We present a detailed study of a rich galaxy cluster at z=2.38. We demonstrate that this cluster contains large overdensities of damped Ly-alpha absorption lines, of Ly-alpha emitting galaxies and of extremely red objects. The overdensity…
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 report spectroscopic observations with the Multiple Mirror Telescope for 11 damped Lyman-alpha absorbers (DLAs) or strong DLA candidates at 0.1 < z < 1.5, including several absorbers discovered in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. In…
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 present seven new abundance measurements of the elements O, C and Si at z > 4.5, doubling the existing sample of weakly depleted elements in gas-rich galaxies, in order to constrain the first ~1 billion years of cosmic metal evolution.…
Observations of the damped Lya systems provide direct measurements on the chemical enrichment history of neutral gas in the early universe. In this Letter, we present new measurements for four damped Lya systems at high redshift. Combining…
A comprehensive analysis of 355 high-quality WSRT HI 21-cm line maps of nearby galaxies shows that the properties and incident rate of Damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) absorption systems observed in the spectra of high redshift QSOs are in good…
We revisit the spectra observed by Ramos Almeida et al. (2013) from an homogeneous sample of galaxies at 0.27<z<1.28 with the aim of finding out the characteristics of the single objects by consistent modelling. In particular we investigate…
It appears that the Lyman alpha forest is becoming thick at a redshift of about 5.5, cutting off the higher redshift intergalactic medium from view in neutral hydrogen. However, the effects of star formation at higher redshift are still…
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…
We are exploring the connection between damped Ly-alpha absorbers (DLAs) and Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) using deep -- (5sigma)=26 m_{AB}-- broad band imaging (UBVI) of four wide fields (0.25 sq. deg. each) obtained at the Kitt Peak 4-m…
We present high resolution observations of an extremely metal-poor damped Lyman-alpha system, at z_abs = 2.3400972 in the spectrum of the QSO J0035-0918, exhibiting an abundance pattern consistent with model predictions for the supernova…