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Title: | Metals in the z ∼ 3 intergalactic medium: results from an ultra-high signal-to-noise ratio UVES quasar spectrum | Authors: | D'ODORICO, Valentina CRISTIANI, Stefano Pomante, E. Carswell, R. F. VIEL, MATTEO Barai, P. Becker, G. D. Calura, F. CUPANI, Guido FONTANOT, Fabio Haehnelt, M. G. Kim, T. -S. Miralda-Escudé, J. Rorai, A. Tescari, E. VANZELLA, Eros |
Issue Date: | 2016 | Journal: | MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY | Number: | 463 | Issue: | 3 | First Page: | 2690 | Abstract: | In this work, we investigate the abundance and distribution of metals in the intergalactic medium (IGM) at <z> ≃ 2.8 through the analysis of an ultra-high signal-to-noise ratio UVES spectrum of the quasar HE0940-1050. In the C IV forest, our deep spectrum is sensitive at 3σ to lines with column density down to log N<SUB>CIV</SUB> ≃ 11.4 and in 60 per cent of the considered redshift range down to ≃11.1. In our sample, all H I lines with log N<SUB>HI</SUB> ≥ 14.8 show an associated C IV absorption. In the range 14.0 ≤ log N<SUB>HI</SUB> < 14.8, 43 per cent of H I lines has an associated C IV absorption. At log N<SUB>HI</SUB> < 14.0, the detection rates drop to <10 per cent, possibly due to our sensitivity limits and not to an actual variation of the gas abundance properties. In the range log N<SUB>HI</SUB> ≥ 14, we observe a fraction of H I lines with detected C IV a factor of 2 larger than the fraction of H I lines lying in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of relatively bright Lyman-break galaxies hosted by dark matter haloes with <M> ∼ 10<SUP>12</SUP> M<SUB>☉</SUB>. The comparison of our results with the output of a grid of photoionization models and of two cosmological simulations implies that the volume filling factor of the IGM gas enriched to a metallicity log Z/Z_{☉} ≳-3 should be of the order of ∼10-13 per cent. In conclusion, our results favour a scenario in which metals are found also outside the CGM of bright star-forming galaxies, possibly due to pollution by lower mass objects and/or to an early enrichment by the first sources. | URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/24975 | URL: | https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/463/3/2690/2646578 https://arxiv.org/pdf/1608.06116.pdf |
ISSN: | 0035-8711 | DOI: | 10.1093/mnras/stw2161 | Bibcode ADS: | 2016MNRAS.463.2690D | Fulltext: | open |
Appears in Collections: | 1.01 Articoli in rivista |
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deep_spectrum_mnras16.pdf | PDF editoriale | 1.97 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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