Using $HST$/COS observations of the twin quasar lines of sight Q$0107-025$A $\&$ Q$0107-025$B, we report on the physical properties, chemical abundances and transverse sizes of gas in a multiple galaxy environment at $z = 0.399$ across a transverse separation of $520$ kpc. The absorber towards Q$0107-025$B has $\log N(H I)/cm^{-2} \approx 16.8$ (partial Lyman limit) while the absorber towards the other sightline has $N(H I) \approx 2$ dex lower. The O VI along both sightlines have comparable column densities and broad $b$-values, whereas the low ionization lines are considerably narrower. The low ionization gas is inconsistent with the O VI when modelled assuming photoionization in a single phase. Along both the lines-of-sight, O VI and coinciding broad H I are best explained through collisional ionization in a cooling plasma with solar metallicity. Ionization models infer $1/10$-th solar metallicity for the pLLS and solar metallicity for the lower column density absorber along the other sightline. Within $\pm~250~km~s^{-1}$ and $2$ Mpc of projected distance from the sightlines 12 galaxies are identified, of which 3 are within $300$ kpc. One of them is a dwarf galaxy while the other two are intermediate mass systems at impact parameters of $ρ\sim (1-4)R_{vir}$. The O VI along both lines-of-sight could be either tracing narrow transition temperature zones at the interface of low ionization gas and the hot halo of nearest galaxy, or a more spread-out warm gas bound to the circumgalactic halo/intragroup medium. This latter scenario leads to a warm gas mass limit of $M \gtrsim 4.5 \times 10^{9}$ M$_\odot$.
We use observations of chlorine-bearing species in molecular absorbers at intermediate redshifts to investigate chemical properties and $^{35}$Cl/$^{37}$Cl isotopic ratios in the absorbing sightlines. Chloronium (H$_2$Cl$^+$) is detected along three independent lines of sight in the z=0.89 and z=0.68 molecular absorbers located in front of the lensed quasars PKS 1830-211 and B 0218+357, respectively. Hydrogen chloride (HCl) was observed only toward PKS 1830-211, and is found to behave differently from H$_2$Cl$^+$. It is detected in one line of sight with an abundance ratio [H$_2$Cl$^+$]/[HCl] …
We present the results of the COS Intragroup Medium (COS-IGrM) Survey that used the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope to observe a sample of 18 UV bright quasars, each probing the intragroup medium (IGrM) of a galaxy group. We detect Ly$α$, C II, N V, Si II, Si III, and O VI in multiple sightlines. The highest ionization species detected in our data is O VI, which was detected in 8 out of 18 quasar sightlines. The wide range of ionization states observed provide evidence that the IGrM is patchy and multiphase. We find that the O VI detections generally align with radiat…
Multiphase turbulence as the origin of OH+, H2O+ and H3+ column density scatter in the local ISM
Technion Israel Institute of Technology（以色列理工学院）；The Johns Hopkins University（约翰斯·霍普金斯大学）；Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey（新泽西州立罗格斯大学）；Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute, Simons Foundation（西蒙斯基金会平顿研究所计算天体物理学中心）
We have revisited the chemistry of chlorine-bearing species in the diffuse interstellar medium with new observations of the HCl$^+$ molecular ion and new astrochemical models. Using the GREAT instrument on board SOFIA, we observed the $^2Π_{3/2}\, J = 5/2 - 3/2$ transition of HCl$^+$ near 1444 GHz toward the bright THz continuum source W49N. We detected absorption by diffuse foreground gas unassociated with the background source, and were able to thereby measure the distribution of HCl$^+$ along the sight-line. We interpreted the observational data using an updated version of an astrochemical …
We present results of our numerical simulation of three H2-bearing damped Lyman alpha absorbers (DLAs) in the redshift interval ~ 2-3. The systems we have modelled are the DLAs at zabs = 2.3377 towards the quasar LBQS 1232+0815, at zabs = 2.41837 towards SDSS J143912.04+111740.5 and at zabs = 2.6265 towards FBQS J081240.6+320808. We have used the spectral synthesis code CLOUDY to simulate the physical environment of these DLAs, and constrain the density, radiation field, geometry and dust-grain properties of the DLAs self-consistently based on the observed column densities of various atomic an…
We have initiated a programme to study the physical/dynamical state of gas in galaxy clusters and the impact of the cluster environment on gaseous halos of individual galaxies using X-ray imaging and UV absorption line spectroscopy of background QSOs. Here we report results from the analysis Chandra and XMM-Newton archival data of five galaxy clusters with such QSOs, one of which has an archival UV spectrum. We characterize the gravitational masses and dynamical states, as well as the hot intracluster medium (ICM) properties of these clusters. Most clusters are dynamically disturbed clusters b…
High resolution X-ray absorption spectroscopy is a powerful diagnostic tool for probing chemical and physical properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) at various phases. We present detections of K transition absorption lines from the low ionization ions of OI, OII, NeI, NeII, and NeIII, and the high ionization ones of OVI, OVII, OVIII, NeIX, and MgXI, as well as details of neutral absorption edges from Mg, Ne, and O in an unprecedented high quality spectrum of the low mass X-ray binary Cyg X-2. These absorption features trace the intervening interstellar medium which is indicated by the uns…
Motivated by observational and theoretical work which both suggest very small scale ($\lesssim 1\,$pc) structure in the circum-galactic medium of galaxies and in other environments, we study Lyman-$α$ (Ly$α$) radiative transfer in an extremely clumpy medium with many "clouds" of neutral gas along the line of sight. While previous studies have typically considered radiative transfer through sightlines intercepting $\lesssim 10$ clumps, we explore the limit of a very large number of clumps per sightline (up to $f_{\mathrm{c}} \sim 1000$). Our main finding is that, for covering factors greater th…
Faraday tomography of radio polarimetric data below 200 MHz from LOFAR are providing us with a new perspective on the diffuse and magnetized interstellar medium (ISM). Of particular interest is the discovery of Faraday-rotated synchrotron polarization associated with neutral gas, as traced by atomic hydrogen (HI) and dust. Here we present the first in-depth numerical study of these LOFAR results. We produce and analyze comprehensive synthetic observations of low-frequency synchrotron polarization from MHD simulations of colliding super shells in the multiphase ISM. We define five distinct gas …
Absorption-selected galaxies offer an effective way to study low-mass galaxies at high redshift. However, the physical properties of the underlying galaxy population remains uncertain. In particular, the multiphase circum-galactic medium is thought to hold key information on gas flows into and out of galaxies that are vital for galaxy evolution models. Here we present ALMA observations of CO molecular gas in host galaxies of H_2-bearing absorbers. In our sample of six absorbers we detect molecular gas-rich galaxies in five absorber fields although we did not target high-metallicity (>50 per ce…
The 1-50 GHz GBT PRIMOS data contains ~50 molecular absorption lines observed in diffuse and translucent clouds located in the Galactic Center, Bar, and spiral arms in the line-of-sight to Sgr B2(N). We measure the column densities and estimate abundances, relative to H2, of 11 molecules and additional isotopologues. We use absorption by optically thin transitions of c-C3H2 to estimate the N(H2), and argue that this method is preferable to more commonly used methods. We discuss the kinematic structure and abundance patterns of small molecules including the sulfur-bearing species CS, SO, CCS, H…
We report the detection of hydrogen chloride, HCl, in diffuse molecular clouds on the line of sight towards the star-forming region W31C (G10.6-0.4). The J = 1-0 lines of the two stable HCl isotopologues, H35Cl and H37Cl, are observed using the 1b receiver of the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI) aboard the Herschel Space Observatory. The HCl line is detected in absorption, over a wide range of velocities associated with diffuse clouds along the line of sight to W31C. The analysis of the absorption strength yields a total HCl column density of few 10^13 cm^-2, implying that HCl…
We present new observations of Lyman-$α$ (Ly$α$) Blob 1 (LAB1) in the SSA22 protocluster region ($z$ = 3.09) using the Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI) and the Keck Multi-object Spectrometer for Infrared Exploration (MOSFIRE). By applying matched filtering to the KCWI datacube, we have created a narrow-band Ly$α$ image and identified several prominent features. By comparing the spatial distributions and intensities of Ly$α$ and H$β$, we find that recombination of photo-ionized HI gas followed by resonant scattering is sufficient to explain all the observed Ly$α$/H$β$ ratios. We further decode the…
We present an absorption line study of the physical and chemical properties of the Leo HI Ring and the Leo I Group as traced by 11 quasar sightlines spread over a 600 kpc X 800 kpc region. Using HST/COS G130/G160 archival observations as constraints, we couple cloud-by-cloud, multiphase, Bayesian ionization modeling with galaxy property information to determine the plausible origin of the absorbing gas along these sightlines. We search for absorption in the range 600 km/s - 1400 km/s consistent with the kinematics of the Leo Ring/Group. We find absorption plausibly associated with the Leo Ring…
Multiphase Gas Nature in the Sub-parsec Region of the Active Galactic Nuclei. III. Eddington Ratio Dependence on the Structures of Dusty and Dust-free Outflows
Photoionization modeling of certain low-ionization broad absorption lines in quasars implies very compact (Delta R~0.01 pc), galaxy-scale (R kpc) absorbers blueshifted by several 1000 km s^-1. While these are likely signatures of quasar outflows, the lifetimes of such compact absorbers are too short for them to be direct ejecta from a nuclear wind. Instead, I argue that the absorbing clouds must be transient and created in situ. Following arguments detailed by Faucher-Giguere, Quataert, & Murray (2011), I show that a model in which the cool absorbers form in radiative shocks arising when a qua…
We present UV to NIR spectroscopic observations of the quasar J0015+1842 and its proximate molecular absorber at z=2.631. The [OIII] emission line of the quasar is composed of a broad (FWHM~1600 km/s), spatially-unresolved component, blueshifted by ~600 km/s from a narrow, spatially-resolved component (FWHM~650 km/s). The wide, blueshifted, unresolved component is consistent with the presence of outflowing gas in the nuclear region. The narrow component can be further decomposed into a blue and a red blob with velocity width of several hundred km/s each, seen ~5 pkpc on opposite spatial locati…
As part of our program to identify host galaxies of known z=2-3 MgII absorbers with the Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI), we discovered a compact group giving rise to a z=2.431 DLA with ultra-strong MgII absorption in quasar field J234628+124859. The group consists of four star-forming galaxies within 8-28 kpc and $v\sim40-340$ km s$^{-1}$ of each other, where tidal streams are weakly visible in deep HST imaging. The group geometric centre is D=25 kpc from the quasar (D=20-40 kpc for each galaxy). Galaxy G1 dominates the group ($1.66L_{\ast}$, ${\rm SFR}_{\rm FUV}=11.6$ M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$) whi…
We use three-dimensional numerical hydrodynamic simulations of the turbulent, multiphase atomic interstellar medium (ISM) to construct and analyze synthetic HI 21 cm emission and absorption lines. Our analysis provides detailed tests of 21 cm observables as physical diagnostics of the atomic ISM. In particular, we construct (1) the "observed" spin temperature, $T_{s,obs}(v_{ch})\equiv T_B(v_{ch})/[1-e^{-τ(v_{ch})}]$, and its optical-depth weighted mean T_s,obs; (2) the absorption-corrected "observed" column density, $N_{H,obs}\propto \int dv_{ch} T_B(v_{ch})τ(v_{ch})/[[1-e^{-τ(v_{ch})}]$; and …
The observational constraints on the baryon content of the WHIM rely almost entirely on FUV measurements. However, cosmological, hydrodynamical simulations predict strong correlations between the spatial distributions of FUV and X-ray absorbing WHIM. In this work we investigate this prediction by analyzing XMM-Newton X-ray counterparts of FUV-detected intergalactic OVI absorbers known from FUSE and HST/STIS data, and compare this information to the predictions of simulations. We study the X-ray absorption at the redshift of the only significantly detected OVI absorber in the TonS180 sightline'…
We report the serendipitous detection of an H$_{2}$-bearing damped Lyman-$α$ absorber at z = 0.576 in the spectrum of the QSO J0111-0316 in the Cosmic Ultraviolet Baryon Survey. Spectroscopic observations from HST-COS in the far-ultraviolet reveal a damped absorber with log[N(HI)/cm^-2] = 20.1 +/- 0.2 and log[N(H$_{2}$)/cm^-2] = 18.97 (-0.06, +0.05). The diffuse molecular gas is found in two velocity components separated by dv = 60 km/s, with >99.9% of the total H$_{2}$ column density concentrated in one component. At a metallicity of $\approx$ 50% of solar, there is evidence for Fe enhancemen…
Extracting the multiphase structure of the neutral interstellar medium (ISM) is key to understand the star formation in galaxies. The radiative condensation of the diffuse warm neutral medium producing a thermally unstable lukewarm medium and a dense cold medium is closely related to the initial step which leads the HI-to-H2 transition and the formation of molecular clouds. Up to now the mapping of these phases out of 21 cm emission hyper-spectral cubes has remained elusive mostly due to the velocity blending of individual cold structures present on a given line of sight. To address this probl…
Lyman-Alpha (Ly$α$) is the strongest emission line in the Universe and is frequently used to detect and study the most distant galaxies. Because Lya is a resonant line, photons typically scatter prior to escaping; this scattering process complicates the interpretation of Ly$α$ spectra, but also encodes a wealth of information about the structure and kinematics of neutral gas in the galaxy. Modeling the Ly$α$ line therefore allows us to study tiny-scale features of the gas, even in the most distant galaxies. Curiously, observed Ly$α$ spectra can be modeled successfully with very simple, homogen…
We present new spectroscopic observations of Lyman-$α$ (Ly$α$) Blob 2 ($z \sim$ 3.1). We observed extended Ly$α$ emission in three distinct regions, where the highest Ly$α$ surface brightness (SB) center is far away from the known continuum sources. We searched through the MOSFIRE slits that cover the high Ly$α$ SB regions, but were unable to detect any significant nebular emission near the highest SB center. We further mapped the flux ratio of the blue peak to the red peak and found it is anti-correlated with Ly$α$ SB with a power-law index of $\sim$ -0.4. We used radiative transfer models wi…
The central regions of cool-core galaxy clusters harbour multiphase gas, with gas temperatures ranging from $10$ $\mathrm{K}$--$10^7$$\mathrm{K}$. Feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) jets prevents the gas from undergoing a catastrophic cooling flow. However, the exact mechanism of this feedback energy input is unknown, mainly due to the lack of velocity measurements of the hot phase gas. However, recent observations have measured the velocity structure functions ($\mathrm{VSF}$s) of the cooler molecular ($\sim10$$\mathrm{K}$) and H$α$ filaments ($\sim10^4$$\mathrm{K}$) and used them to…
We propose a novel method to constrain turbulence and bulk motions in massive galaxies, groups and clusters, exploring both simulations and observations. As emerged in the recent picture of the top-down multiphase condensation, the hot gaseous halos are tightly linked to all other phases in terms of cospatiality and thermodynamics. While hot halos (10^7 K) are perturbed by subsonic turbulence, warm (10^4 K) ionized and neutral filaments condense out of the turbulent eddies. The peaks condense into cold molecular clouds (< 100 K) raining in the core via chaotic cold accretion (CCA). We show all…
The Multiphase CGM in the Epoch of Reionization: CII and CIV absorbers around [OIII] Emitters
University of Trieste（的里雅斯特大学）；INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste（意大利国家天体物理研究所的里雅斯特天文台）；IFPU - Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe（宇宙基础物理研究所）；Dipartimento di Fisica “Enrico Fermi”, Università di Pisa（比萨大学恩里科·费米物理系）；IUCAA（印度联合大学天体物理中心）；Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca（米兰比可卡大学）；Max-Planck-Institut für Ex
Aims. The comparative study of several molecular species at the origin of the gas phase chemistry in the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) is a key input in unraveling the coupled chemical and dynamical evolution of the ISM. Methods. The lowest rotational lines of HCO+, HCN, HNC, and CN were observed at the IRAM-30m telescope in absorption against the λ3 mm and λ1.3 mm continuum emission of massive star-forming regions in the Galactic plane. The absorption lines probe the gas over kiloparsecs along these lines of sight. The excitation temperatures of HCO+ are inferred from the comparison of th…
We investigate the composition of interstellar grains along the line of sight toward Zeta Ophiuchi, a well-studied environment near the diffuse-dense cloud transition. A spectral decomposition analysis of the solid-state absorbers is performed using archival spectroscopic observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope and Infrared Space Observatory. We find strong evidence for the presence of sub-micron-sized amorphous silicate grains, principally comprised of olivine-like composition, with no convincing evidence of H2O ice mantles. However, tentative evidence for thick H2O ice mantles on large…
We used the ARO 12m antenna to observe emission from the J=1-0 lines of carbon monoxide, \hcop\ and HNC and the J=2-1 line of CS toward and around the continuum peak used for absorption studies and we compare them with CH, HNC, C\p\ and other absorption spectra from PRISMAS. We develop a kinematic analysis that allows a continuous description of the spectral properties and relates them to viewing geometry in the Galaxy. As for CH, HF, C\p, \hcop\ and other species observed in absorption, mm-wave emission in CO, \hcop, HNC and CS is continuous over the full velocity range expected for material …
Synergistic Radiative Transfer Modeling of MgII and Lyα Emission in Multiphase, Clumpy Galactic Environments: Application to Low-Redshift Lyman Continuum Leakers
In diffuse interstellar clouds the chemistry that leads to the formation of the oxygen bearing ions OH+, H2O+, and H3O+ begins with the ionization of atomic hydrogen by cosmic rays, and continues through subsequent hydrogen abstraction reactions involving H2. Given these reaction pathways, the observed abundances of these molecules are useful in constraining both the total cosmic-ray ionization rate of atomic hydrogen (zeta_H) and molecular hydrogen fraction, f(H2). We present observations targeting transitions of OH+, H2O+, and H3O+ made with the Herschel Space Observatory along 20 Galactic s…
Lyman- and Werner-band absorption of molecular hydrogen (H$_2$) is detected in $\sim$50% of low redshift ($z<1$) DLAs/sub-DLAs with $N$(H$_2$) > 10$^{14.4}$ cm$^{-2}$. However the true origin(s) of the H$_2$ bearing gas remain elusive. Here we report a new detection of an H$_{2}$ absorber at $z=$ 0.4298 in the HST/COS spectra of quasar PKS 2128-123. The total $N$(HI) of 10$^{19.50\pm0.15}$ cm$^{-2}$ classifies the absorber as a sub-DLA. H$_{2}$ absorption is detected up to the $J=3$ rotational level with a total $\log N$(H$_{2}$) = 16.36$\pm$0.08 corresponding to a molecular fraction of log $f…
Identifying signatures of inflow onto face-on galaxies using the Balmer decrement
Columbia University（哥伦比亚大学）；Tsinghua University（清华大学）；Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute（伦斯勒理工学院）；The University of Texas at Dallas（德克萨斯大学达拉斯分校）；York University（约克大学）
The composition and properties of interstellar silicate dust are not well understood. In X-rays, interstellar dust can be studied in detail by making use of the fine structure features in the Si K-edge. The features in the Si K-edge offer a range of possibilities to study silicon-bearing dust, such as investigating the crystallinity, abundance, and the chemical composition along a given line of sight. We present newly acquired laboratory measurements of the silicon K-edge of several silicate-compounds that complement our measurements from our earlier pilot study. The resulting dust extinction …
We present new high resolution (R>50,000) absorption measurements of the NaI doublet (5889 - 5895A) along 482 nearby sight-lines, in addition to 807 new measurements of the CaII K (3933A) absorption line. We have combined these new data with previously reported measurements to produce a catalog of absorptions towards a total of 1857 early-type stars located within 800pc of the Sun. Using these data we have determined the approximate 3-dimensional spatial distribution of neutral and partly ionized interstellar gasdensity within a distance-cube of 300pc from the Sun. All newly recorded spectra w…
Keck OSIRIS/LGSAO observations of the ultraluminous galaxy IRAS~23365+3604 resolve a circumnuclear bar (or irregular disk) of semimajor axis 0.42" (520 pc) in Paschen-alpha emission. The line-of-sight velocity of the ionized gas increases from the northeast toward the southwest; this gradient is perpendicular to the photometric major axis of the infrared emission. Two pairs of bends in the zero-velocity line are detected. The inner bend provides evidence for gas inflow onto the circumnuclear disk/bar structure. We interpret the gas kinematics on kiloparsec scales in relation to the molecular g…
A Decade to Map the Diffuse Universe: FRB-QSO Pairs with HST/COS Spectroscopy
University of Washington（华盛顿大学）；U Washington（华盛顿大学）；UCSC（加州大学圣克鲁兹分校）；U Chicago（芝加哥大学）；NC State（北卡罗来纳州立大学）；Harvard（哈佛大学）；STScI（太空望远镜科学研究所）；University of Notre Dame（圣母大学）；Caltech（加州理工学院）；McGill（麦吉尔大学）；Kavli IPMU（卡弗里宇宙物理学国际研究中心）；MIT（麻省理工学院）；UC Boulder（科罗拉多大学博尔德分校）；San Diego State University（圣地亚哥州立大学）；Rocky Mountain Institute（落基山研究所）；RPI（伦斯勒理工学院）
We present a study comparing OVI $λλ$1031, 1037 doublet absorption found towards group galaxy environments with that of isolated galaxies. The OVI absorption in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of isolated galaxies has been studied previously by the "Multiphase Galaxy Halos" survey, where the kinematics and absorption properties of the CGM have been investigated. We extend these studies to group environments. We define a galaxy group to have two or more galaxies having a line-of-sight velocity difference of no more than 1000 km/s and located within 350 kpc (projected) of a background quasar sig…
Diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) are broad absorption features measured in sightlines probing the diffuse interstellar medium. Although large carbon-bearing molecules have been proposed as the carriers producing DIBs, their identity remains unknown. The sight line to the young massive star-forming region M17 shows anomalous extinction in the sense that the total-to-selective extinction parameter differs significantly from the average Galactic value and may reach values $R_{V} > 4$. Given the high $R_V$ values, we investigate whether the DIBs in sight lines towards young OB stars in M17 show a…
Ratios of different ions of the same element encode ionization information independently from relative abundances in quasar absorption line systems, crucial for understanding the multiphase nature and origin of absorbing gas, particularly at $z>6$ where H I cannot be observed. Observational considerations have limited such studies to a small number of sightlines, with most surveys at $z>6$ focused upon the statistical properties of individual ions such as Mg II or C IV. Here we compare high- and low-ionization absorption within 69 intervening systems at $z>5$, including 16 systems at $z>6$, fr…
We present the detection and analysis of a weak low-ionization absorber at $z = 0.12122$ along the blazar sightline PG~$1424+240$, using spectroscopic data from both $HST$/COS and STIS. The absorber is a weak Mg II analogue, with incidence of weak C II and Si II, along with multi-component C IV and O VI. The low ions are tracing a dense ($n_{H} \sim 10^{-3}$ cm$^{-3}$) parsec scale cloud of solar or higher metallicity. The kinematically coincident higher ions are either from a more diffuse ($n_{H} \sim 10^{-5} - 10^{-4}$ cm$^{-3}$) photoionized phase of kiloparsec scale dimensions, or are trac…
We demonstrate the presence of an extended and massive circumgalactic medium (CGM) around Messier 31 using archival HST COS ultraviolet spectroscopy of 18 QSOs projected within two virial radii of M31 (Rvir=300 kpc). We detect absorption from SiIII at -300<vLSR}<-150 km/s toward all 3 sightlines at R<0.2Rvir, 3 of 4 sightlines at 0.8<R/Rvir<1.1, and possibly 1 of 11 at 1.1<R/Rvir<1.8. We present several arguments that the gas at these velocities observed in these directions originates from the CGM of M31 rather than the Local Group or Milky Way CGM or Magellanic Stream. We show that the dwarf …
We present a survey for neutral atomic-carbon (CI) along gamma-ray burst (GRB) sightlines, which probes the shielded neutral gas-phase in the interstellar medium (ISM) of GRB host galaxies at high redshift. We compile a sample of 29 medium- to high-resolution GRB optical afterglow spectra spanning a redshift range through most of cosmic time from $1 < z < 6$. We find that seven ($\approx 25\%$) of the GRBs entering our statistical sample have CI detected in absorption. It is evident that there is a strong excess of cold gas in GRB hosts compared to absorbers in quasar sightlines. We investigat…
(Abridged) We present a systematic investigation of physical conditions and elemental abundances in four optically thick Lyman-limit systems (LLSs) at $z=0.36-0.6$ discovered within the Cosmic Ultraviolet Baryon Survey (CUBS). CUBS LLSs exhibit multi-component kinematic structure and a complex mix of multiphase gas, with associated metal transitions from multiple ionization states that span several hundred km/s in line-of-sight velocity. Specifically, higher column density components (log N(HI)>16) in all four absorbers comprise dynamically cool gas with $\langle T \rangle =(2\pm1) \times10^4\…
