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arXiv · 1205.4029

Search for cold gas in strong MgII absorbers at 0.5<z<1.5: nature and evolution of 21-cm absorbers

N. Gupta·R. Srianand·P. Petitjean·J. Bergeron·P. Noterdaeme·S. Muzahid
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Abstract

We report 4 new detections of 21-cm absorption from a systematic search of 21-cm absorption in a sample of 17 strong (Wr(MgII 2796)>1A) intervening MgII absorbers at 0.5 100 km/s are mainly seen towards the quasars with extended radio morphology at arcsecond scales. However, we do not find any correlation between the integrated 21-cm optical depth or DeltaV with the LS measured from the milliarcsecond scale images. All this can be understood if the absorbing gas is patchy with a typical correlation length of ~30-100 pc. We show that within the measurement uncertainty, the 21-cm detection rate in strong MgII systems is constant over 0.5<z<1.5, i.e., over ~30% of the total age of universe. We show that the detection rate can be underestimated by up to a factor 2 if 21-cm optical depths are not corrected for the partial coverage estimated using milliarcsecond scale maps. Since stellar feedback processes are expected to diminish the filling factor of cold neutral medium over 0.5<z<1, this lack of evolution in the 21-cm detection rate in strong MgII absorbers is intriguing. [abridged]

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N. Gupta, R. Srianand, P. Petitjean, J. Bergeron, P. Noterdaeme, S. Muzahid. 2012-05-26. Search for cold gas in strong MgII absorbers at 0.5<z<1.5: nature and evolution of 21-cm absorbers. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361%2F201219159

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