Mathematics – Probability
Scientific paper
Dec 1993
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1993aas...183.9004r&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, 183rd AAS Meeting, #90.04D; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 25, p.1431
Mathematics
Probability
Scientific paper
The evolution of the neutral hydrogen content of galaxies as a function of time is an important constraint on processes in galactic evolution. We present a comprehensive, statistical description of the HI content and distribution within galaxies at the present epoch and compare these statistics with the properties of HI associated with ``damped Lyman alpha '' absorption systems at high redshift that are observed in the spectra of QSOs. Omega_ {HI}(z=0), the HI mass density at the present epoch relative to the present critical mass density, is found to be (2.3 +/- 0.6) times 10(-4) h75(-1) , consistent with the decreasing trend of the HI content with time deduced from QSO absorption line statistics for redshifts from about 4 to 0.5 (Lanzetta 1993). Spiral galaxies contain an overwhelming 94% of this neutral hydrogen mass. The rest is contained in irregulars (3%), and S0s plus ellipticals (3%). Spirals also offer the largest cross-section to line-of-sight absorption of light from QSOs. By considering nearby spirals as potential absorbers, the interception probability as a function of the HI column density, N(HI), is derived for comparison with the cross-sections inferred from observations of damped Lyman alpha systems. Consistent with previous studies, the comparison shows that the damped Ly alpha lines are created by absorbers that subtend larger cross-sections than present-day spirals by a factor of 5 implying that galaxies were either larger or more numerous at z ~ 2.5. We are also investigating the statistics of damped Lyman alpha absorbers in the redshift range 0.2
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