| CIV Absorption From Galaxies in the Process of Formation (2007) | |||||||||||||||
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| We investigate the heavy element QSO absorption systems caused by gas condensations at high redshift which evolve into galaxies at the present epoch. Artificial QSO spectra were generated for a variety of lines-of-sight through regions of the universe simulated with a hydrodynamics code. The CIV and HI absorption features in these spectra closely resemble observed CIV and HI absorption systems if [C/H] ¸ \Gamma3 to \Gamma2 is assumed. CIV absorption complexes with multiple-component structure and velocity spreads up to ¸ 600 km s \Gamma1 are found. The broadest systems are caused by lines-of-sight passing through groups of protogalactic clumps aligned along filamentary structures expanding with the Hubble flow. Typical clumps have a radius of about 5 \Gamma 10 kpc, a baryonic mass of ¸ 10 9 M fi and are surrounded by hot gas atmospheres with radius of about 30 kpc. The temperature of a considerable fraction of the gas does not take the photoionization equilibrium value. This invali... | |||||||||||||||
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