Constraints on Structure Formation Scenarios by Observations of Damped Lyman-Alpha Systems at High Redshift

Details Constraints on Structure Formation Scenarios by Observations of Damped Lyman-Alpha Systems at High Redshift Constraints on Structure Formation Scenarios by Observations of Damped Lyman-Alpha Systems at High Redshift

May 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996aps..may.f1003j&link_type=abstract

American Physical Society, APS/AAPT Joint Meeting, May 2-5, 1996, abstract #F10.03

Physics

Scientific paper

The observation of damped Lyman-alpha systems at high redshift may provide valuable information about the early formation of cosmic structure and/or the physical properties of primeval galaxies. Recent high-resolution observations of damped systems exhibit wide intrinsic velocity profiles, which may be indicative of the presence of neutral hydrogen disks with large intrinsic rotational velocities at high redshift. In this paper we determine the optical depth for observing a damped Lyman-alpha system as a function of redshift, subject to the constraint that the spectrum of the damped system shows a wide velocity profile. We consider a variety of realistic disk profiles and cosmic structure formation scenarios. The combined constraints of large column density and extended velocity profile removes some of the uncertainties in the neutral hydrogen disk models. For a given structure formation scenario our study allows us to place upper limits on the optical depth for damped Lyman-alpha systems with large velocity spread. We also consider how our conclusions are modified by observational bias due to dust, the ionization of baryons and/or the consumption of baryons by star formation. This work was supported in part by a NASA Theory grant, NSF grant PHY-9503384 at UCSD, and in part under the auspices of the US DoE by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract number W-7405-ENG-48.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Constraints on Structure Formation Scenarios by Observations of Damped Lyman-Alpha Systems at High Redshift does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Constraints on Structure Formation Scenarios by Observations of Damped Lyman-Alpha Systems at High Redshift, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Constraints on Structure Formation Scenarios by Observations of Damped Lyman-Alpha Systems at High Redshift will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1357435