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arXiv 0901.0286astro-ph.CO
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再电离期星系际介质的金属吸收线示踪

Tracing the Reionization-Epoch Intergalactic Medium with Metal Absorption Lines

Benjamin D. Oppenheimer, Romeel Davé, Kristian Finlator

摘要:

在z>6光谱中观察到的IGM金属吸收线提供了探测早期反馈过程、富集源的性质和再电离拓扑结构的机会。我们进行了包括星系外流在内的高分辨率宇宙学模拟,研究了5种离子(C II,C IV,O I,Si II,Si IV)在z=8->5之间吸收的可观测性和物理性质。我们应用三种情况下的电离条件:完全中性,完全再电离,和一个补丁模型的基础上从最近的星系的流量。我们发现,我们的模拟广泛适用于现有的z~5-6 IGM金属线数据,虽然所有的观察不能容纳一个单一的电离条件。Becker等人(2006年)观察到的视线中的O 1吸收剂的变化表明,低至z~6的中性IGM斑块显著。z~6处的强C IV吸收体可能是其母星系电离的结果。我们的外流有典型的速度~200公里/秒和质量加载因子~6。如此高的质量负载对于将IGM富集到观测水平,同时减少恒星形成以匹配观测到的z~6静止框架UV光度函数是至关重要的。金属的体积填充因子在这一时期增加,但当Z>10^(-3)Zsolar时,到z=5时仅达到~1%。CIV是IGM金属在z~5-6的理想示踪剂,其整体电离分数下降到更高或更低的红移。这导致从z=8->5强烈增加的全局Ω(C IV),与其从z=5->2的相对恒定性相反。我们的模拟不支持广泛的早期IGM富集,例如Pop III星。高z吸收体产生于金属第一次从星系向外的旅程,距离小于50 kpc。负责早期IGM富集的星系具有典型的M*=10^(7.0-8.5)Msolar。

英文摘要:

IGM metal absorption lines observed in z>6 spectra offer the opportunity to probe early feedback processes, the nature of enriching sources, and the topology of reionization. We run high-resolution cosmological simulations including galactic outflows to study the observability and physical properties of 5 ions (C II, C IV, O I, Si II, Si IV) in absorption between z=8->5. We apply three cases for ionization conditions: Fully neutral, fully reionized, and a patchy model based on the flux from the nearest galaxy. We find that our simulations broadly fit available z~5-6 IGM metal-line data, although all observations cannot be accommodated with a single ionization condition. Variations in O I absorbers among sight lines seen by Becker et al. (2006) suggest significant neutral IGM patches down to z~6. Strong C IV absorbers at z~6 may be the result of ionization by their parent galaxy. Our outflows have typical speeds of ~200 km/s and mass loading factors of ~6. Such high mass loading is critical for enriching the IGM to the observed levels while curtailing star formation to match the observed z~6 rest-frame UV luminosity function. The volume filling factor of metals increases during this epoch, but only reaches ~1% for Z>10^(-3) Zsolar by z=5. C IV is an ideal tracer of IGM metals at z~5-6, with dropping global ionization fractions to either higher or lower redshifts. This results in a strongly increasing global Omega(C IV) from z=8->5, in contrast to its relative constancy from z=5->2. Our simulations do not support widespread early IGM enrichment from e.g. Pop III stars. High-z absorbers arise from metals on their first outward journey from galaxies, at distances less than 50 kpc. The galaxies responsible for early IGM enrichment have typical M*=10^(7.0-8.5) Msolar.

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