MODELS OF LYMAN-ALPHA CLOUDS

Abstract

The classic question regarding Lyman-alpha forest clouds is whether they are confined by the pressure of a hot, diffuse surrounding medium, or by the gravity of dark matter mini-halos. This paper reviews these basic models for forest clouds, considering spherical and slab geometries. At high redshift, the clouds are still likely to be in the process of formation, and it seems essential to consider them as dynamic structures in a cosmological context. At low redshift, observations of large cloud sizes (indicated by their covering of both lines of sight toward quasar pairs) have recently reshaped our view of the forest. Galaxy-like disks/slabs, which would be gravity confined near the center, but pressure confined in their outer regions (extending out to hundreds of kpcs), may be responsible for the low z forest. The ultimate view of the identity of the forest clouds and their relationship to galaxies is likely to involve a synthesis of many of the models discussed here.