FEASTS and MHONGOOSE: HI Column Density Distribution at $z=0$ for $N_{\mathrm{HI}}>10^{17.8}{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}$

Abstract

We present the first $z=0$ HI column density distribution function, $f(N_{\mathrm{HI}})$, extending down to $\log (N_{\mathrm{HI}}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2})=17.8$. This was derived from high-sensitivity 21-cm emission-line imaging at $\sim$1 kpc resolution. At high-column-densities (19.8$<\log (N_{\mathrm{HI}}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2})<$21.3), our results align with earlier $z=0$ studies but benefit from 100 times greater sensitivity. Comparisons with $z\sim 3$ quasar absorption-line studies reveal that $f(N_{\mathrm{HI}})$ at $z=0$ is systematically lower by 0.1-0.4 dex for $19.2<\log (N_{\mathrm{HI}}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2})<21$. However, the distributions become comparable at $17.8<\log (N_{\mathrm{HI}}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2})<19.2$, suggesting weak evolution in this regime. Extrapolating the length incidence ($\mathrm{d}N/\mathrm{d}X$) for $\log (N_{\mathrm{HI}}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2})>17.5$ implies a covering fraction ($f_{\mathrm{cov}}$) of $\sim 0.7$ within 1-kpc-scale HI-detected pixels at $z=0$. Notably, for $17.8<\log (N_{\mathrm{HI}}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2})<20$, impact parameters at a given $N_{\mathrm{HI}}$ are significantly lower than previous $z\sim 0$ absorption-line results and TNG50 simulation predictions. This discrepancy indicates challenges in identifying galaxy counterparts for absorbers and in recovering low-column-density HI within cosmological simulations. Finally, we derive a covering fraction of 0.006 for $\log (N_{\mathrm{HI}}/{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2})>17.8$ gas within the virial radius around Milky-Way-like galaxies. These findings provide new constraints on the baryonic flows and gaseous dynamics governing galaxy evolution.

arXiv comment30 pages, 17 figures. ApJ in press

References in corpus (90)

• SciPy 1.0--Fundamental Algorithms for Scientific Computing in Python
• Astropy: A Community Python Package for Astronomy
• emcee: The MCMC Hammer
• The NumPy array: a structure for efficient numerical computation
• The Astropy Project: Building an inclusive, open-science project and status of the v2.0 core package
• On the variation of the Initial Mass Function
• The Astropy Project: Sustaining and Growing a Community-oriented Open-source Project and the Latest Major Release (v5.0) of the Core Package
• The EAGLE project: Simulating the evolution and assembly of galaxies and their environments
• The Star Formation Efficiency in Nearby Galaxies: Measuring Where Gas Forms Stars Effectively
• The Star Formation Law in Nearby Galaxies on Sub-Kpc Scales
• THINGS: The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey
• UniverseMachine: The Correlation between Galaxy Growth and Dark Matter Halo Assembly from z=0-10
• FIRE-2 Simulations: Physics versus Numerics in Galaxy Formation
• First Results from the TNG50 Simulation: Galactic outflows driven by supernovae and black hole feedback
• First Results from the TNG50 Simulation: The evolution of stellar and gaseous disks across cosmic time
• The physics driving the cosmic star formation history
• Updated Nearby Galaxy Catalog
• On the evolution of the HI column density distribution in cosmological simulations
• The HIPASS catalogue: Omega_HI and environmental effects on the HI mass function of galaxies
• xGASS: Total cold gas scaling relations and molecular-to-atomic gas ratios of galaxies in the local Universe
• Extremely Inefficient Star Formation in the Outer Disks of Nearby Galaxies
• Little Things
• The Gaseous Environment of High-z Galaxies: Precision Measurements of Neutral Hydrogen in the Circumgalactic Medium of z ~ 2-3 Galaxies in the Keck Baryonic Structure Survey
• Column density distribution and cosmological mass density of neutral gas: Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III Data Release 9
• The Cosmic Baryon and Metal Cycles
• An Empirical Characterization of Extended Cool Gas Around Galaxies Using MgII Absorption Features
• A z=0 Multi-wavelength Galaxy Synthesis I: A WISE and GALEX Atlas of Local Galaxies
• New Lessons from the HI Size-Mass Relation of Galaxies
• Molecular and atomic gas along and across the main sequence of star-forming galaxies
• SoFiA: a flexible source finder for 3D spectral line data
• A Cosmic UV/X-ray Background Model Update
• Cosmological simulations of the circumgalactic medium with 1 kpc resolution: enhanced HI column densities
• Galaxy Groups within 3500 km s${}^{-1}$
• The Evolution of Lyman Limit Absorption Systems to Redshift Six
• The cold interstellar medium of galaxies in the Local Universe
• The 1000 Brightest HIPASS Galaxies: HI Mass Function and Omega_HI
• Ingredients for 21cm intensity mapping
• The Westerbork Hydrogen Accretion in Local Galaxies (HALOGAS) Survey I. Survey Description and Pilot Observations
• Reconciling the local galaxy population with damped Ly-alpha cross sections and metal abundances
• The ESO UVES Advanced Data Products Quasar Sample - II. Cosmological Evolution of the Neutral Gas Mass Density
• Neutral hydrogen in galaxy halos at the peak of the cosmic star formation history
• A Definitive Survey for Lyman Limit Systems at z~3.5 with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• Properties of the Circumgalactic Medium in Cosmic Ray-Dominated Galaxy Halos
• The EAGLE simulations: atomic hydrogen associated with galaxies
• Cold accretion flows and the nature of high column density HI absorption at redshift 3
• Halo Gas Cross Sections And Covering Fractions of MgII Absorption Selected Galaxies
• Quasars Probing Quasars VI. Excess HI Absorption Within One Proper Mpc of z~2 Quasars
• SoFiA 2 -- An automated, parallel HI source finding pipeline for the WALLABY survey
• The Evolution of the Baryons Associated with Galaxies Averaged over Cosmic Time and Space
• The distribution of neutral hydrogen around high-redshift galaxies and quasars in the EAGLE simulation
• Cosmological evolution of atomic gas and implications for 21 cm HI absorption
• The physical properties of the Ly-Alpha forest at z > 1.5
• Through Thick and Thin - HI Absorption in Cosmological Simulations
• Galaxy Cold Gas Contents in Modern Cosmological Hydrodynamic Simulations
• Zooming in on accretion - II. Cold Circumgalactic Gas Simulated with a super-Lagrangian Refinement Scheme
• Modeling the atomic-to-molecular transition in cosmological simulations of galaxy formation
• Halpha Equivalent Widths from the 3D-HST survey: evolution with redshift and dependence on stellar mass
• A Stellar Feedback Origin for Neutral Hydrogen in High-Redshift Quasar-Mass Halos
• Atomic hydrogen in IllustrisTNG galaxies: the impact of environment parallelled with local 21-cm surveys
• The impact of local stellar radiation on the HI column density distribution
• Dissecting the properties of optically-thick hydrogen at the peak of cosmic star formation history
• A Substantial Mass of Cool, Metal-Enriched Gas Surrounding the Progenitors of Modern-Day Ellipticals
• The HST/ACS+WFC3 Survey for Lyman Limit Systems II: Science
• HI 21-centimetre emission from an ensemble of galaxies at an average redshift of one
• Which galaxies dominate the neutral gas content of the Universe?
• A Hubble Space Telescope Study of Lyman Limit Systems: Census and Evolution
• Is Multiphase Gas Cloudy or Misty?
• Properties of HI discs in the Auriga cosmological simulations
• Confronting Simulations of Optically Thick Gas in Massive Halos with Observations at z=2-3
• The Cosmic Ultraviolet Baryon Survey (CUBS) I. Overview and the diverse environments of Lyman limit systems at z<1
• An HI column density threshold for cold gas formation in the Galaxy
• Effect of radiative transfer on damped Lyman-alpha and Lyman limit systems in cosmological SPH simulations
• MHONGOOSE -- A MeerKAT Nearby Galaxy HI Survey
• Effects of Ultraviolet Background and Local Stellar Radiation on the H_I Column Density Distribution
• Mg II Absorption Characteristics of a Volume-Limited Sample of Galaxies at z ~ 0.1
• Neutral CGM as damped Lyα absorbers at high redshift
• FEASTS: IGM cooling triggered by tidal interactions through the diffuse HI phase around NGC 4631
• MIGHTEE-HI: Evolution of HI scaling relations of star-forming galaxies at $z<0.5$
• Atomic Gas Scaling Relations of Star-forming Galaxies at $z\approx 1$
• The Cosmic Ultraviolet Baryon Survey (CUBS) VI: Connecting Physical Properties of the Cool Circumgalactic Medium to Galaxies at $z\approx 1$
• A lack of constraints on the cold opaque HI mass: HI spectra in M31 and M33 prefer multi-component models over a single cold opaque component
• Atomic Gas Dominates the Baryonic Mass of Star-forming Galaxies at $z\approx 1.3$
• The HI mass function of star-forming galaxies at $\mathbf{z}\sim 0.35$
• MUSE-ALMA Haloes VIII: Statistical Study of Circumgalactic Medium Gas
• MUSE-ALMA Haloes VII: Survey Science Goals & Design, Data Processing and Final Catalogues
• MIGHTEE-HI: The HI mass-stellar mass relation over the last billion years
• HI within and around observed and simulated galaxy discs -- Comparing MeerKAT observations with mock data from TNG50 and FIRE-2
• The HI Mass Function of the Local Universe: Combining Measurements from HIPASS, ALFALFA and FASHI
• FEASTS Combined with Interferometry. III. The Low Column Density HI Around M51 and Possibility of Turbulent-mixing Gas Accretion
• Beam Measurements of Full Stokes Parameters for the FAST L-band 19-beam Receiver