The SDSS-DR5 Survey for Proximate Damped Lya Systems

Abstract

Using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Data Release 5, we survey proximate damped Lya systems (PDLAs): absorption line systems with HI column density N(HI)> 2x10^20 cm^{-2} at velocity separation dv < 3000 km/s from their background quasar. These absorbers are physically associated with their background quasars, and their statistics allow us to study quasar environments out to z~5. However, the large ionizing flux emitted by a quasar can ionize the neutral gas in a nearby galaxy possibly giving rise to a ``proximity effect'', analogous to the similar effect observed in the Lya forest. From a sample of 111 PDLAs, we measure the HI frequency distribution f(N), incidence, and gas mass density of the PDLAs near luminous quasars over the redshift interval z= 2.2 to 5. The incidence and mass density of PDLAs at z~3 is approximately twice that of intervening DLAs, but at z<2.5 and z>3.5 the f(N) distribution is consistent with the intervening population. We interpret the observed enhancement of PDLAs around quasars in terms of quasar-galaxy clustering, and compare the strength of the clustering signal to the expectation from independent measures of the respective clustering strengths of DLAs and quasars, as well as a complementary analysis of the clustering of absorbers around quasars in the transverse direction. We find that there are a factor of 5-10 fewer PDLAs around quasars than expected and interpret this result as evidence for the hypothesis that the ionizing flux from the quasars photoevaporates HI in nearby DLA galaxies, thus reducing their cross-section for DLA absorption. This constitues the first detection of a ``proximity effect'' for DLAs.