The circumgalactic medium (CGM) plays a vital role in the formation and evolution of galaxies, acting as a lifeline between galaxies and the surrounding intergalactic medium. In this study, we leverage a unique sample of quasar pairs to investigate the properties of the CGM with absorption line tomography. We present a new sample of medium-resolution Keck/ESI, Magellan/MagE, and VLT/XSHOOTER spectra of 29 quasar pairs at redshift 2 < z < 3. We supplement the sample with additional spectra of 32 pairs from the literature, creating a catalog of 61 quasar pairs with angular separations between 1.″7 and 132.″9 and projected physical separations (r ⊥) between 14 kpc and 887 kpc. We construct a catalog of 906 metal-line absorption doublets of C iv (λλ1548, 1550) with equivalent widths ranging from 6 m Å ≤ W r,1550 ≤ 2053 m Å. The best-fit linear model to the log-space equivalent width frequency distribution (logf(Wr)=mlog(Wr)+b ) of the sample yields coefficients of m = -1.44 ± 0.16 and b = -0.43 ± 0.16. To constrain the projected extent of C iv, we calculate the transverse autocorrelation function. The flattening of the autocorrelation function at low r ⊥ provides a lower limit for the coherence length of the metal enriched CGM - on the order of 200 h -1 comoving kpc. This physical size constraint allows us to refine our understanding of the metals in the CGM, where the extent of C iv in the CGM depends on gas flows, feedback, timescale of metal injection and mixing, and the mass of the host galaxies.

Mintz, A., Rafelski, M., Jorgenson, R., Fumagalli, M., Dutta, R., Martin, C., et al. (2022). Constraining the Size of the Circumgalactic Medium Using the Transverse Autocorrelation Function of C iv Absorbers in Paired Quasar Spectra. THE ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL, 164(2) [10.3847/1538-3881/ac764d].

Constraining the Size of the Circumgalactic Medium Using the Transverse Autocorrelation Function of C iv Absorbers in Paired Quasar Spectra

Fumagalli, M;Dutta, R;
2022

Abstract

The circumgalactic medium (CGM) plays a vital role in the formation and evolution of galaxies, acting as a lifeline between galaxies and the surrounding intergalactic medium. In this study, we leverage a unique sample of quasar pairs to investigate the properties of the CGM with absorption line tomography. We present a new sample of medium-resolution Keck/ESI, Magellan/MagE, and VLT/XSHOOTER spectra of 29 quasar pairs at redshift 2 < z < 3. We supplement the sample with additional spectra of 32 pairs from the literature, creating a catalog of 61 quasar pairs with angular separations between 1.″7 and 132.″9 and projected physical separations (r ⊥) between 14 kpc and 887 kpc. We construct a catalog of 906 metal-line absorption doublets of C iv (λλ1548, 1550) with equivalent widths ranging from 6 m Å ≤ W r,1550 ≤ 2053 m Å. The best-fit linear model to the log-space equivalent width frequency distribution (logf(Wr)=mlog(Wr)+b ) of the sample yields coefficients of m = -1.44 ± 0.16 and b = -0.43 ± 0.16. To constrain the projected extent of C iv, we calculate the transverse autocorrelation function. The flattening of the autocorrelation function at low r ⊥ provides a lower limit for the coherence length of the metal enriched CGM - on the order of 200 h -1 comoving kpc. This physical size constraint allows us to refine our understanding of the metals in the CGM, where the extent of C iv in the CGM depends on gas flows, feedback, timescale of metal injection and mixing, and the mass of the host galaxies.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Circumgalactic medium; Intergalactic medium; Quasar absorption line spectroscopy;
English
2022
164
2
51
open
Mintz, A., Rafelski, M., Jorgenson, R., Fumagalli, M., Dutta, R., Martin, C., et al. (2022). Constraining the Size of the Circumgalactic Medium Using the Transverse Autocorrelation Function of C iv Absorbers in Paired Quasar Spectra. THE ASTRONOMICAL JOURNAL, 164(2) [10.3847/1538-3881/ac764d].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/397318
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