On the Incidence and Kinematics of Strong Mg II Absorbers

Abstract

We present the results of two investigations into the nature of strong (rest equivalent width > 1.0 Ang) Mg II absorption systems at high redshift. The first line of questioning examines the complete SDSS- DR3 set of quasar spectra to determine the evolution of the incidence of strong Mg II absorption. The redshift evolution of the comoving line-of-sight number density, l(x), is characterized by a roughly constant value at z > 0.8, indicating that the product of the number density and gas cross-section of halos hosting strong Mg II is unevolving at these redshifts. At z < 0.8 there is a decline in l(x), which we interpret as a decrease in the gas cross-section to strong Mg II absorption and therefore a decline in the physical processes relevant to such absorption. This evolution roughly tracks the global evolution of the SFR density. The decrease of l(x) is more pronounced for larger equivalent width systems. We also present the results of a search for strong Mg II absorption in 91 high resolution quasar spectra, which allow us to investigate the kinematics of such systems. These systems are characterized by the presence of numerous components spread over a ~200 km/s velocity width and the presence of more highly ionized species, which display kinematic profiles similar to the corresponding Mg II absorption. We consider these results in light of two competing theories to explain strong Mg II absorption: post-starburst, SN-driven galactic winds and accreting gas in the halos of massive galaxies. The later model is disfavored by the absence of evolution in l(x) at z > 1. We argue that the strong Mg II phenomenon primarily arises from feedback processes in relatively low mass galactic halos related to star formation.

38 pages, 12 figures, LaTex; Accepted by ApJ

References in corpus (17)

• Spectroscopic Target Selection in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: The Quasar Sample
• The Rest Frame Optical Spectra of Lyman Break Galaxies: Star Formation, Extinction, Abundances, and Kinematics
• The Metal Content of Dwarf Starburst Winds: Results from Chandra Observations of NGC 1569
• The Deep2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: Evolution of Close Galaxy Pairs and Major-Merger Rates Up to z ~ 1.2
• The Kinematic Connection Between QSO-Absorbing Gas and Galaxies at Intermediate Redshift
• Mg II Absorption Systems in SDSS QSO Spectra
• Early Enrichment of the Intergalactic Medium and its Feedback on Galaxy Formation
• FUSE Observations of Outflowing OVI in the Dwarf Starburst Galaxy NGC1705
• The ESI/KeckII Damped Lya Abundance Database
• The UCSD HIRES/KeckI Damped Lya Abundance Database: I. The Data
• Generating Hot Gas in Simulations of Disk-Galaxy Major Mergers
• Metal Absorption Lines as Probes of the Intergalactic Medium Prior to the Reionization Epoch
• Dust-reddening and gravitational lensing of SDSS QSOs due to foreground damped Lyman-alpha systems
• High-Redshift Superwinds as the Source of the Strongest Mg II Absorbers: A Feasibility Analysis
• Damped Lyman Alpha Gas Metallicities at Redshifts z=0.9-2.0 from SDSS Spectra
• Evidence for Expanding Superbubbles in a Galaxy at z=0.7443
• Detecting and interpreting statistical lensing by absorbers

Cited by in corpus (120)

• Ubiquitous outflows in DEEP2 spectra of star-forming galaxies at z=1.4
• The COS-Halos Survey: Rationale, Design, and A Census of Circumgalactic Neutral Hydrogen
• The radial and azimuthal profiles of Mg II absorption around 0.5 < z < 0.9 zCOSMOS galaxies of different colors, masses and environments
• An Empirical Characterization of Extended Cool Gas Around Galaxies Using MgII Absorption Features
• Four quasars above redshift 6 discovered by the Canada-France High-z Quasar Survey
• Gemini Near-infrared Spectroscopy of Luminous z~6 Quasars: Chemical Abundances, Black Hole Masses, and MgII Absorption
• The Quasar Outflow Contribution to AGN Feedback: VLT Measurements of SDSS J0318-0600
• The JHU-SDSS metal absorption line catalog: redshift evolution and properties of Mg II absorbers
• Orbiting Circum-galactic Gas as a Signature of Cosmological Accretion
• New perspectives on strong z=0.5 MgII absorbers: are halo-mass and equivalent width anti-correlated?
• Reionization and high-redshift galaxies: the view from quasar absorption lines
• Mapping Large-Scale Gaseous Outflows in Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies with Keck II ESI Spectra: Spatial Extent of the Outflow
• Optical properties and spatial distribution of MgII absorbers from SDSS image stacking
• Quasars Probing Quasars III: New Clues to Feedback, Quenching, and the Physics of Massive Galaxy Formation
• On the Nature of Velocity Fields in High z Galaxies
• Quasars Probing Galaxies: I. Signatures of Gas Accretion at Redshift Approximately 0.2
• Quasars Probing Quasars VII. The Pinnacle of the Cool Circumgalactic Medium Surrounds Massive z~2 Galaxies
• Morphological Properties of z~0.5 Absorption-Selected Galaxies: The Role of Galaxy Inclination
• Large scale outflows from z ~ 0.7 starburst galaxies identified via ultra-strong MgII quasar absorption lines
• Lensing, reddening and extinction effects of MgII absorbers from z=0.4 to z=2
• Constraints on the Universal CIV Mass Density at z~6 from Early IR Spectra Obtained with the Magellan FIRE Spectrograph
• MUSE Analysis of Gas around Galaxies (MAGG) -- II: Metal-enriched halo gas around z~1 galaxies
• The SINFONI MgII Program for Line Emitters (SIMPLE): Discovering starbursts near QSO sight-lines
• A Cross-Correlation Analysis of Mg II Absorption Line Systems and Luminous Red Galaxies from the SDSS DR5
• On the Incidence of Strong MgII Absorbers Along GRB Sightlines
• A Hubble Space Telescope Study of Lyman Limit Systems: Census and Evolution
• On the HI content, dust-to-gas ratio and nature of MgII absorbers
• The Baryon Content of Dark Matter Halos: Empirical Constraints from MgII Absorbers
• Modeling the distribution of Mg II absorbers around galaxies using Background Galaxies & Quasars
• The Clustering of MgII Absorption Systems at z=0.5 and Detection of Cold Gas in Massive Halos
• A Survey of MgII Absorption at 2 < z < 6 with Magellan / FIRE: I: Sample and Evolution of the MgII Frequency
• Precious Metals in SDSS Quasar Spectra I: Tracking the Evolution of Strong, 1.5 < z < 4.5 CIV Absorbers with Thousands of Systems
• GRB 071003: Broadband Follow-up Observations of a Very Bright Gamma-Ray Burst in a Galactic Halo
• On the Halo Occupation of Dark Baryons
• The Pittsburgh Sloan Digital Sky Survey MgII Quasar Absorption-Line Survey Catalog
• A search for HI 21cm absorption in strong MgII absorbers in the redshift desert
• Enriched haloes at redshift $z=2$ with no star-formation: Implications for accretion and wind scenarios
• Galaxies probing galaxies: cool halo gas from a z = 0.47 post-starburst galaxy
• Statistics and characteristics of MgII absorbers along GRB lines of sight observed with VLT-UVES
• Mg II Absorption at 2<z<7 with Magellan/FIRE, III. Full Statistics of Absorption Towards 100 High-Redshift QSOs
• The incidence of cool gas in ~ 1e13 Msun halos
• The color excess of quasars with intervening DLA systems- Analysis of the SDSS data release five
• A complete sample of 21-cm absorbers at z~1.3: Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope Survey Using MgII Systems
• Characterizing the abundance, properties, and kinematics of the cool circumgalactic medium of galaxies in absorption with SDSS DR16
• Ultra-strong MgII Absorbers as a Signature of Cool Intragroup Gas
• Galaxy Clusters in the Line of Sight to Background Quasars: I. Survey Design and Incidence of MgII Absorbers at Cluster Redshifts
• A Correlation Between Galaxy Morphology and MgII Halo Absorption Strength
• CaII and NaI absorption signatures from extraplanar gas in the halo of the Milky Way
• The Co-Evolution of Galaxies and the Cool Circumgalactic Medium Probed with the SDSS and DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys
• The connection between metallicity and metal-line kinematics in (sub-)damped Lyman-alpha systems
• Search for cold gas in strong MgII absorbers at 0.5<z<1.5: nature and evolution of 21-cm absorbers
• The Unchanging Circumgalactic Medium Over the Past 11 Billion Years
• Evidence for Dust Destruction from the Early-time Colour Change of GRB 120119A
• Towards Detecting The 2175-Å Dust Feature Associated With Strong High Redshift Mg ßII Absorption Lines
• The extent of the MgII absorbing circum-galactic medium of quasars
• An absorption-selected survey of neutral gas in the Milky Way halo
• On the cool gaseous haloes of quasars
• Strong MgII systems in quasar and gamma-ray burst spectra
• COS-Weak: Probing the CGM using analogs of weak Mg II absorbers at z < 0.3
• Precious Metals in SDSS Quasar Spectra II: Tracking the Evolution of Strong, 0.4 < z < 2.3 MgII Absorbers with Thousands of Systems
• HI content, metallicities and spin temperatures of damped and sub-damped Lyman alpha systems in the redshift desert (0.6 < z < 1.7)
• Blind HI and OH absorption line search: first results with MALS and uGMRT processed using ARTIP
• Large-Scale Star Formation-Driven Outflows at 1<z<2 in the 3D-HST Survey
• A Kennicutt-Schmidt Law for Intervening Absorption Line Systems
• On the Connection Between Metal Absorbers and Quasar Nebulae
• The Milky Way halo as a QSO absorption-line system. New results from an HST/STIS absorption-line catalogue of Galactic high-velocity clouds
• Disparate MgII Absorption Statistics towards Quasars and Gamma-Ray Bursts : A Possible Explanation
• An HST/COS legacy survey of intervening SiIII absorption in the extended gaseous halos of low-redshift galaxies
• New HI 21-cm absorbers at low and intermediate redshifts
• On the Incidence of C IV Absorbers Along the Sightlines to Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Galaxy counterparts of intervening high-z sub-DLAs/DLAs and MgII absorbers towards gamma-ray bursts
• Quasars with Super Metal Rich Emission Line Regions
• GRB 050408: An Atypical Gamma-Ray Burst as a Probe of an Atypical Galactic Environment
• Near Infrared spectroscopic observations of high redshift C~{\sc i} absorbers
• Detecting and Characterizing Mg II absorption in DESI Survey Validation Quasar Spectra
• Dusty MgII absorbers: population statistics, extinction curves and gamma-ray burst sightlines
• Metal enrichment and evolution in four z > 6.5 quasar sightlines observed with JWST/NIRSpec
• The Mg II 2797, 2803 emission in low-metallicity star-forming galaxies from the SDSS
• Incidence of MgII absorbers towards Blazars and the GRB/QSO puzzle
• Evolution of Neutral Oxygen During the Epoch of Reionization and its Use in Estimating the Neutral Hydrogen Fraction
• Observations of Mg II Absorption Near z ~ 1 Galaxies Selected From The DEEP2 Redshift Survey
• MgII Absorption at 2 < z < 6 with Magellan / FIRE. II: A Longitudinal Study of HI, Metals, and Ionization in Galactic Haloes
• Incidence of HI 21-cm absorption in strong FeII systems at $0.5<z<1.5$
• Detecting cold gas at intermediate redshifts: GMRT survey using Mg II systems
• On the Observed W_MgII--L_[OII] Correlation in SDSS QSO Spectra
• The comoving mass density of MgII from $z\sim 2$ to $5.5$
• Strong Mg II and Fe II Absorbers at 2.2 < z < 6.0
• The Kinematic Evolution of Strong MgII Absorbers
• MgII Absorbers in High Resolution Quasar Spectra. I. Voigt Profile Models
• An Independent Measurement of the Incidence of MgII Absorbers along Gamma-Ray Burst Sightlines: the End of the Mystery?
• The kinematic signature of damped Lyman alpha systems: Using the D-index to screen for high column density HI absorbers
• On the Redshift Evolution of MgII Absorption Systems
• Intervening Mg II absorption systems from the SDSS DR12 quasar spectra
• Solving the conundrum of intervening strong MgII absorbers towards GRBs and quasars
• Galaxy Clusters in the Line of Sight to Background Quasars: II. Environmental effects on the sizes of baryonic halo sizes
• The Dark Matter Haloes and Host Galaxies of MgII Absorbers at z~1
• Identifying MgII Narrow Absorption Lines with Deep Learning
• Gamma Ray Bursts as Probes of the Distant Universe
• A gravitational lensing explanation for the excess of strong Mg-II absorbers in GRB afterglow spectra
• The circum-galactic medium of quasars: CIV absorption systems
• HI 21-cm absorption from $z\sim 0.35$ strong MgII absorbers
• Magellan LDSS3 emission confirmation of galaxies hosting metal-rich Lyman-alpha absorption systems
• The Redshift Distribution of Intervening Weak MgII Quasar Absorbers and a Curious Dependence on Quasar Luminosity
• Constraints on the relative sizes of intervening Mg II-absorbing clouds and quasar emitting regions
• Catalog of narrow $CIV$ absorption lines in BOSS (I): for quasars with $z_{em}\le 2.4$
• Incidence of Mg II absorption systems towards flat-spectrum radio quasars
• The Study of Circumgalactic Medium with Quasar Pairs
• Detection of Low Metallicity Warm Plasma in a Galaxy Overdensity Environment at z ~ 0.2
• On the significance of the excess number of strong MgII absorbers observed towards Gamma-ray bursts
• A Survey of Metal Lines at High-redshift (II) : SDSS Absorption Line Studies - OVI line density, space density and gas metallicity at z_abs ~ 3.0
• Cold neutral hydrogen gas in galaxies
• A fourth HI 21-cm absorption system in the sight-line of MG J0414+0534: a record for intervening absorbers
• Spectroscopic follow-up of double quasar candidates
• The Excess Density of Field Galaxies near z=0.56 around the Gamma-Ray Burst GRB021004 Position
• GALEX Discovery of a Damped Ly-alpha System at Redshift z = 1
• MUSE Analysis of Gas around Galaxies (MAGG) -- VI. The cool and enriched gas environment of z$\gtrsim$3 Ly$\alpha$ emitters
• Large-scale periodicity in the distribution of QSO absorption-line systems
• Incidence of Strong MgII Absorbers Towards Different Types of Quasars
• GRBs as Probes of the IGM
• The multiple coherence scales of C IV at cosmic noon