Metal enrichment, dust, and star formation in galaxies at high redshifts. 3: Zn and CR abundances for 17 damped Lyman-alpha systems

Pettini, Max; Smith, L. J.; Hunstead, R. W.; King, David L.

doi:10.1086/174041

Cited by 342 publications

(456 citation statements)

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“…Elements classified as volatiles and refractories according to condensation calculations (Lodders 2003) are characterized by low and high levels of depletion, respectively (Savage & Sembach 1996). Dust depletion in DLAs is known to be moderate, similar to that found in low-density components of the Galactic ISM (Pettini et al 1994(Pettini et al , 1997Ledoux et al 2002;Vladilo et al 2011). For this reason, depletions of well-known volatile elements, such as zinc or sulphur, or even moderately refractory elements, such as silicon, have negligible or modest effects on DLA abundance measurements.…”

Section: Dust Depletionmentioning

confidence: 94%

The ESO UVES Advanced Data Products Quasar Sample – IV. On the deficiency of argon in DLA systems

Zafar¹,

Vladilo²,

Péroux³

et al. 2014

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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In this work, we study argon abundances in the interstellar medium of high-redshift galaxies (2.0 z abs 4.2) detected as Damped Lyα absorbers (DLA) in the spectra of background quasars. We use high-resolution quasar spectra obtained from the ESO-UVES advanced data products (EUADP) database. We present 3 new measurements and 5 upper limits of Ar i. We further compiled DLAs/sub-DLA data from the literature with measurements available of argon and α-capture elements (S or Si), making up a total of 37 systems, i.e. the largest DLA argon sample investigated so far. We confirm that argon is generally deficient in DLAs, with a mean value [Ar/α] ≃ −0.4 ± 0.06 dex (standard error of the mean). The [Ar/α] ratios show a weak, positive trend with increasing H i column density and increasing absorption redshift, and a weak, negative trend with dust-free metallicity, [S/H]. Detailed analysis of the abundance ratios indicates that Ar i ionisation, rather than dust depletion or nucleosynthetic evolution, is responsible for the argon deficiency. Altogether, the observational evidence is consistent with a scenario of argon ionisation dominated by quasar metagalactic radiation modulated by local H i self-shielding inside the DLA host galaxies. Our measurements and limits of argon abundances suggest that the cosmic reionisation of He ii is completed above z ∼ 3, but more measurements at z abs > 3.5 are required to probe the final stages of this process of cosmic reionisation.

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Section: Dust Depletionmentioning

confidence: 94%

The ESO UVES Advanced Data Products Quasar Sample – IV. On the deficiency of argon in DLA systems

Zafar¹,

Vladilo²,

Péroux³

et al. 2014

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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“…The data are summarized in Table 4. Pettini et al 1994 ; (6) SMIH96 ; (7) this paper ; (8) Lanzetta et al 1991 ;(9) Wolfe et al 1986 ;(10) Black, Cha †ee, & Foltz 1987 ;(11) Lu & Wolfe 1994 ;(12) Wolfe et al 1993 ;(13) Lu et al 1993 ;(14) Rauch et al 1990 ; (15) Wolfe et al 1986 ; (6) this paper ; (7) SMIH96 ; (8) Sargent et al 1989 ;(9) SIM96. where # is the Heaviside step function, and where the sum is over the m QSOs in the survey (see Lanzetta et al 1991).…”

Section: Statistical Samplementioning

confidence: 96%

Surveys forz > 3 Damped Lyα Absorption Systems: The Evolution of Neutral Gas

Storrie-Lombardi

Wolfe

2000

ApJ

250

268

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We have completed spectroscopic observations using LRIS on the Keck 1 telescope of 30 very high redshift quasars, 11 selected for the presence of damped Lya absorption systems and 19 with redshifts z [ 3.5 not previously surveyed for absorption systems. We have surveyed an additional 10 QSOs with the Lick 120A and the Anglo-Australian Telescope. We have combined these with previous data, resulting in a statistical sample of 646 QSOs and 85 damped Lya absorbers with column densities N H I º 2 ] 1020 atoms cm~2 covering the redshift range 0.008 ¹ z ¹ 4.694. Four main features of how the neutral gas in the universe evolves with redshift are evident from these data.

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“…In addition, the similarity between the comoving gas density in DLAs at z $ 3 (Storrie-Lombardi & Wolfe 2000) and * (0) is further evidence of self-consistency, although some infall might be required if the gas density is really lower than * (0). We also updated Pettini's (1999) calculation for the mass of metals produced by z ¼ 2:5, the median redshift of DLAs for which metal abundances have been determined (Pettini et al 1994;PW02). Pettini (1999) obtained this result using comoving SFRs for LBGs, whereas we use comoving SFRs for DLAs.…”

Section: Baryon and Metal Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cii* Absorption in Damped Lyα Systems. II. A New Window on the Star Formation History of the Universe

Wolfe

Gawiser

Prochaska

2003

ApJ

115

146

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Starting from the star formation rate (SFR) per unit area, _ Ã Ã , determined for damped Ly systems (DLAs) using the C ii* method, we obtain the SFR per unit comoving volume, _ Ã Ã ðzÞ, at z % 3. Pure warm neutral medium (WNM) solutions are ruled out since they generate more bolometric background radiation than observed, but the two-phase solutions dominated by the cold neutral medium (CNM) are consistent with the backgrounds. We find that _ Ã Ã ðzÞ for DLAs agrees with the _ Ã Ã ðzÞ for the Lyman break galaxies (LBGs). Although the mass of produced stars indicated by the SFRs is consistent with the current densities of known stellar populations, the mass of metals produced by z ¼ 2:5 is 30 times larger than detected in absorption in DLAs. Of the three possible solutions to this '' missing metals '' problem, the most likely appears to be that star formation occurs in compact bulge regions. We search for evidence of feedback and find no correlations between _ Ã Ã and N(H i), but possible correlations between _ Ã Ã and low-ion velocity width and _ Ã Ã and metal abundance. We show that (1) the correlation between cooling rate and dust-to-gas ratio is positive evidence for grain photoelectric heating, (2) the cosmic microwave background (CMB) does not significantly populate the C ii excited fine-structure states, and (3) the ratio of C ii* to resonance-line optical depths is a sensitive probe of the multiphase structure of the DLA gas. We address recent arguments that DLAs are comprised only of WNM gas and show them to be inconclusive. Despite the rough agreement between _ Ã Ã ðzÞ for DLAs and LBGs, current evidence indicates that these are distinct populations.

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Metal enrichment, dust, and star formation in galaxies at high redshifts. 3: Zn and CR abundances for 17 damped Lyman-alpha systems

Cited by 342 publications

References 0 publications

The ESO UVES Advanced Data Products Quasar Sample – IV. On the deficiency of argon in DLA systems

The ESO UVES Advanced Data Products Quasar Sample – IV. On the deficiency of argon in DLA systems

Surveys forz > 3 Damped Lyα Absorption Systems: The Evolution of Neutral Gas

Cii* Absorption in Damped Lyα Systems. II. A New Window on the Star Formation History of the Universe

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