The Spread of Metals into the Low-Redshift Intergalactic Medium

Abstract

We investigate the association between galaxies and metal-enriched and metal-deficient absorbers in the local universe ($z<0.16$) using a large compilation of FUV spectra of bright AGN targets observed with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. In this homogeneous sample of 18 O VI detections at $N_{\mathrm{O}\mathrm{VI}}\ge 13.5{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}$ and 18 non-detections at $N_{\mathrm{O}\mathrm{VI}}<13.5{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}$ using Lya absorbers with $N_{\mathrm{H}\mathrm{I}}\ge 10^{14}{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}$, the maximum distance O VI extends from galaxies of various luminosities is $\sim 0.6$ Mpc, or $\sim 5$ virial radii, confirming and refining earlier results. This is an important value that must be matched by numerical simulations, which input the strength of galactic winds at the sub-grid level. We present evidence that the primary contributors to the spread of metals into the circum- and intergalactic media are sub-$L^{\ast }$ galaxies ($0.25L^{\ast }<L<L^{\ast }$). The maximum distances that metals are transported from these galaxies is comparable to, or less than, the size of a group of galaxies. These results suggest that, where groups are present, the metals produced by the group galaxies do not leave the group. Since many O VI non-detections in our sample occur at comparably close impact parameters as the metal-bearing absorbers, some more pristine intergalactic material appears to be accreting onto groups where it can mix with metal-bearing clouds.

14 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

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• Testing dynamical vacuum models with CMB power spectrum from Planck
• The Physical Origins of the Identified and Still Missing Components of the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium: Insights from Deep Surveys in the Field of Blazar 1ES1553+113
• Feeding the fire: Tracing the mass-loading of 10^7 K galactic outflows with O VI absorption
• A Galaxy Redshift Survey near HST/COS AGN Sight Lines
• The COS Absorption Survey of Baryon Harbors: The Galaxy Database and Cross-Correlation Analysis of OVI Systems
• The COS-legacy survey of C IV absorbers: properties and origins of the intervening systems
• The Ultraviolet Detection of Diffuse Gas in Galaxy Groups
• Probing the physical properties of the intergalactic medium using gamma-ray bursts
• Probing the physical properties of the intergalactic medium using blazars
• Probing the parameters of the intergalactic medium using quasars
• KBSS-InCLOSE I: Design and First Results from the Inner CGM of QSO Line Of Sight Emitting Galaxies at z~2-3
• Probing the physical properties of the IGM using SRG/eROSITA spectra from blazars