Dissecting the Gaseous Halos of z~2 Damped Ly$\alpha$ Systems with Close Quasar Pairs

Abstract

We use spectroscopy of close pairs of quasars to study diffuse gas in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) surrounding a sample of 40 Damped Lya systems (DLAs). The primary sightline in each quasar pair probes an intervening DLA in the redshift range 1.6 < z_DLA < 3.6, such that the second quasar sightline then probes Lya, CII, SiII, and CIV absorption in the CGM transverse to the DLA to projected distances $R_{\perp }<300$ kpc. Analysis of the Lya profiles in these CGM sightlines constrains the covering fraction (f_C) of optically thick HI (having column density N_HI > 10^17.2 cm^-2) to be greater than ~30% within $R_{\perp }<200$ kpc of DLAs. Strong SiII 1526 absorption with equivalent width W_1526 > 0.2 Ang occurs with an incidence f_C (W_1526 > 0.2 Ang) = 20(+12/-8)% within $R_{\perp }<100$ kpc, indicating that low-ionization metal absorption associated with DLAs probes material at a physical distance R_3D < 30 kpc. However, we find that strong CIV 1548 absorption is ubiquitous in these environments (f_C (W_1548 > 0.2 Ang) = 57(+12/-13)% within $R_{\perp }<100$ kpc), and in addition exhibits a high degree of kinematic coherence on scales up to ~175 kpc. We infer that this high-ionization material arises predominantly in large, quiescent structures extending beyond the scale of the DLA host dark matter halos rather than in ongoing galactic winds. The Lya equivalent width in the DLA-CGM is anticorrelated with $R_{\perp }$ at >98% confidence, suggesting that DLAs arise close to the centers of their host halos rather than on their outskirts. Finally, the average Lya, CII and CIV equivalent widths are consistent with those measured around z~2 Lyman Break Galaxies. Assuming that DLAs trace a galaxy population with lower masses and luminosities, this finding implies that the absorption strength of cool circumgalactic material has a weak dependence on dark matter halo mass for M_h < 10^12 M_sun.

Submitted to ApJ. 30 pages, 13 figures, 3 tables, 1 appendix. Uses emulateapj format

References in corpus (32)

• Introducing the Illustris Project: Simulating the coevolution of dark and visible matter in the Universe
• The EAGLE simulations of galaxy formation: calibration of subgrid physics and model variations
• The Mass-Metallicity Relation at z~2
• Cosmological Simulations of Intergalactic Medium Enrichment from Galactic Outflows
• The COS-Halos Survey: Physical Conditions and Baryonic Mass in the Low-Redshift Circumgalactic Medium
• Multi-Wavelength Constraints on the Cosmic Star Formation History from Spectroscopy: the Rest-Frame UV, H-alpha, and Infrared Luminosity Functions at Redshifts 1.9<z<3.4
• H-alpha Observations of a Large Sample of Galaxies at z~2: Implications for Star Formation in High Redshift Galaxies
• The COS-Dwarfs Survey: The Carbon Reservoir Around sub-L* Galaxies
• Think Outside the Color Box: Probabilistic Target Selection and the SDSS-XDQSO Quasar Targeting Catalog
• A Survey of Galaxy Kinematics to z ~ 1 in the TKRS/GOODS-N Field. I. Rotation and Dispersion Properties
• The MagE Spectrograph
• Metal-line absorption around $z\approx$2.4 star-forming galaxies in the Keck Baryonic Structure Survey
• Neutral hydrogen in galaxy halos at the peak of the cosmic star formation history
• Quasars Probing Quasars II: The Anisotropic Clustering of Optically Thick Absorbers around Quasars
• Galaxy Counterparts of metal-rich Damped Lyman-alpha Absorbers - I: The case of the z=2.35 DLA towards Q2222-0946
• Damped Lyman-alpha absorbers as a probe of stellar feedback
• Metal-enriched, sub-kiloparsec gas clumps in the circumgalactic medium of a faint z = 2.5 galaxy
• On the Nature of Velocity Fields in High z Galaxies
• Quasars Probing Quasars VII. The Pinnacle of the Cool Circumgalactic Medium Surrounds Massive z~2 Galaxies
• Galactic and Circumgalactic OVI and its Impact on the Cosmological Metal and Baryon Budgets at 2<z<3.5
• Narrow associated QSO absorbers: clustering, outflows and the line-of-sight proximity effect
• Predictions for the relation between strong HI absorbers and galaxies at redshift 3
• Reproducing the Kinematics of Damped Lyman-alpha Systems
• A connection between extremely strong Damped Lyman-alpha Systems and Lyman-alpha Emitting Galaxies at small impact parameters
• Hot Halos around High Redshift Protogalaxies: Observations of O VI and N V Absorption in Damped Lyman Alpha systems
• C IV absorption in damped and sub-damped Lyman-alpha systems: correlations with metallicity and implications for galactic winds at z~2-3
• Transverse Sizes of CIV Absorption Systems Measured from Multiple QSO Sightlines
• The Varied Fates of z~2 Star-forming Galaxies
• Directly imaging damped Ly-alpha galaxies at z>2. III: The star formation rates of neutral gas reservoirs at z~2.7
• Directly imaging damped Ly-alpha galaxies at z>2. II: Imaging and spectroscopic observations of 32 quasar fields
• Coincident, 100 kpc-scale damped Lyman alpha absorption towards a binary QSO: how large are galaxies at z ~ 3?
• Can gravitational infall energy lead to the observed velocity dispersion in DLAs?

Cited by in corpus (50)

• The Circumgalactic Medium
• Zooming in on accretion - II. Cold Circumgalactic Gas Simulated with a super-Lagrangian Refinement Scheme
• Zooming in on accretion - I. The structure of halo gas
• A Universal Density Structure for Circum-Galactic Gas
• The Column Density, Kinematics, and Thermal State of Metal-Bearing Gas within the Virial Radius of z~2 Star-Forming Galaxies in the Keck Baryonic Structure Survey
• Consensus report on 25 years of searches for damped Ly$\alpha$ galaxies in emission: Confirming their metallicity-luminosity relation at $z\gtrsim 2$
• A Stellar Feedback Origin for Neutral Hydrogen in High-Redshift Quasar-Mass Halos
• Nature of the Absorbing Gas associated with a Galaxy Group at z~0.4
• Resolving shocks and filaments in galaxy formation simulations: effects on gas properties and star formation in the circumgalactic medium
• Galaxies Probing Galaxies in PRIMUS - I. Sample, Spectroscopy, and Characteristics of the z~0.5 MgII-Absorbing Circumgalactic Medium
• The Complete Ultraviolet Spectrum of the Archetypal "Wind-Dominated" Quasar Mrk~231: Absorption and Emission from a High-Speed Dusty Nuclear Outflow
• The Keck+Magellan Survey for Lyman Limit Absorption III: Sample Definition and Column Density Measurements
• Measurement of the small-scale structure of the intergalactic medium using close quasar pairs
• A metal-poor damped Ly-alpha system at redshift 6.4
• MUSE Analysis of Gas around Galaxies (MAGG) -- IV: The gaseous environment of $z\sim$ 3-4 Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies
• Metal enrichment in the circumgalactic medium and Lyα haloes around quasars at z $\sim$3
• Molecular gas and star formation in an absorption-selected galaxy: Hitting the bull's eye at z = 2.46
• Origin of Cosmic Chemical Abundances
• Spatially Resolved Metal Gas Clouds
• The MUSE eXtremely Deep Field: Individual detections of Lyα haloes around rest-frame UV-selected galaxies at z~2.9-4.4
• Metal line emission from galaxy haloes at z~1
• Environmental Dependence of Galactic Properties Traced by Ly$\alpha$ Forest Absorption: Diversity among Galaxy Populations
• The Mean Metal-line Absorption Spectrum of DLAs in BOSS
• Simba: The average properties of the circumgalactic medium of $2\le z\le 3$ quasars are determined primarily by stellar feedback
• Probing Feedback via IGM tomography and Ly$\alpha$ forest with Subaru PFS, TMT/ELT, and JWST
• A Unique View of AGN-Driven Molecular Outflows: The Discovery of a Massive Galaxy Counterpart to a $z=2.4$ High-Metallicity Damped Lyman-$\alpha$ Absorber
• Examining the Decline in the C IV Content of the Universe over 4.3 < z < 6.3 using the E-XQR-30 Sample
• A Fundamental Test for Galaxy Formation Models: Matching the Lyman-$\alpha$ Absorption Profiles of Galactic Halos over Three Decades in Distance
• Outskirts of Distant Galaxies In Absorption
• Clumpiness of Observed and Simulated Cold Circumgalactic Gas
• Simulating the Carbon Footprint of Galactic Halos
• Quantifying Baryonic Feedback on Warm-Hot Circumgalactic Medium in CAMELS Simulations
• Quasars probing quasars X: The quasar pair spectral database
• Dissecting cold gas in a high-redshift galaxy using a lensed background quasar
• Observed Faraday Effects in Damped Lyman-Alpha Absorbers and Lyman Limit Systems: The Magnetised Environment of Galactic Building Blocks at Redshift=2
• A Long Stream of Metal-Poor Cool Gas around a Massive Starburst Galaxy at z = 2.67
• The Ly$\alpha$ emission from high-$z$ galaxies hosting strong Damped Ly$\alpha$ systems
• Three- and two-point spatial correlations of intergalactic medium at $z\sim 2$ using projected quasar triplets
• The distribution and properties of DLAs at z $\le$ 2 in the EAGLE simulations
• The environments and hosts of metal absorption at z>5
• Searching for HI around MHONGOOSE Galaxies via Spectral Stacking
• Resolving the Internal Structure of Circum-Galactic Medium using Gravitationally Lensed Quasars
• Observational Diagnostics of Gas Flows: Insights from Cosmological Simulations
• Discovery of a Low-Redshift Damped Ly$\alpha$ System in a Foreground Extended Disk Using a Starburst Galaxy Background Illuminator
• On the Metallicities and Kinematics of the Circumgalactic Media of Damped Ly$\alpha$ Systems at $z\sim 2.5$
• Discovery of a damped Ly$\alpha$ galaxy at z $\sim$ 3 towards the quasar SDSS J011852+040644
• Star-Formation in Neutral Hydrogen Gas Reservoirs at Cosmic Noon
• Constraining the Size of the Circumgalactic Medium Using the Transverse Autocorrelation Function of C IV Absorbers in Paired Quasar Spectra
• Intergalactic Medium Tomography with the Sunburst Arc
• Investigating the Circumgalactic Medium through Mg II absorption coincidence