Building Blocks in Hierarchical Clustering Scenarios and their Connection with Damped Ly$\alpha$ Systems

Abstract

We carried out a comprehensive analysis of the chemical properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) and the stellar population (SP) of current normal galaxies and their progenitors in a hierarchical clustering scenario. We compared the results with observations of Damped Lyman-$\alpha$ systems (DLAs) under the hypothesis that, at least, part of the observed DLAs could originate in the building blocks of today normal galaxies. We used a hydrodynamical cosmological code which includes star formation and chemical enrichment. Galaxy-like objects are identified at $z=0$ and then followed back in time. Random line-of-sights (LOS) are drawn through these structures in order to mimic Damped Lyman $\alpha$ systems. We then analysed the chemical properties of the ISM and SP along the LOS. We found that the progenitors of current galaxies in the field with mean $L<0.5L^{\ast }$ and virial circular velocity of $100-250km/sec$ could be the associated DLA galaxies. For these systems we detected a trend for $<L/L^{\ast }>$ to increase with redshift.(Abridged)

15 pages, 11 Postscript figures. Accepted to MNRAS

References in corpus (10)

• The UCSD HIRES/KeckI Damped Lya Abundance Database: II. The Implications
• The CORALS Survey I: New Estimates of the Number Density and Gas Content of Damped Lyman Alpha Systems Free from Dust Bias
• A physical upper limit on the HI column density of gas clouds
• Star formation and chemical evolution in SPH simulations: a statistical approach
• On the relation between high-redshift starburst galaxies and damped Ly-alpha systems
• A scaling law for interstellar depletions
• Unusual Metal Abundances in a Pair of Damped Lyman Alpha Systems at z~2
• Chemical evolution and depletion pattern in Damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) systems
• Chemical Enrichment at High Redshifts: Understanding the Nature of Damped Ly$\alpha$ Systems in Hierarchical Models
• Nitrogen Abundances in DLA Systems: The Combined Effects of SNII and SNIa in a Hierarchical Clustering Scenario

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Damped Lyman alpha Systems
• The Role of Sub-damped Lyman-alpha Absorbers in the Cosmic Evolution of Metals
• A new comprehensive set of elemental abundances in DLAs III. Star formation histories
• Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Sub-Damped Lyman-alpha Absorbers at z < 0.5, and Implications for Galaxy Chemical Evolution
• Star Formation and Chemical Evolution of DLAs with Semi-Analytical Model
• Metallicity and HI Column Density Properties of Damped Lyman-$\alpha$ Systems