Signature of Galactic Outflows as Absorption-Free Gaps in the Ly-alpha Forest

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dc.creatorFang, Taotao
dc.creatorLoeb, Abraham
dc.creatorTytler, David
dc.creatorKirkman, David
dc.creatorSuzuki, Nao
dc.date2005-05-10
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-25T12:26:24Z
dc.descriptionPowerful outflows from star-forming galaxies are expected to push away the neutral intergalactic medium (IGM) around those galaxies, and produce absorption-free gaps in the Ly-alpha forest. We analyze the abundance of gaps of various sizes in three high resolution spectra of quasars at z ~ 3 - 3.5. The gap statistics agrees well with a model in which galactic halos above a minimum mass scale of M_min ~ 10^10 M_sun produce bubbles with a characteristic radius of R_b ~ 0.48 Mpc/h. Both numbers are consistent with naive theoretical expectations, where the minimum galaxy mass reflects the threshold for infall of gas out of a photo-ionized IGM. The observed gaps are typically bounded by deep absorption features as expected from the accumulation of swept-up gas on the bubble walls.
dc.description4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to ApJL
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0505182
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0505182
dc.identifier.urihttps://dspace.dare.co.zw/handle/123456789/10086
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleSignature of Galactic Outflows as Absorption-Free Gaps in the Ly-alpha Forest
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