arXiv subjects

Debopam Som

Publications and source records attributed to Debopam Som.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Atomic data for Zn II - Improving Spectral Diagnostics of Chemical Evolution in High-redshift Galaxies

Damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) and sub-DLA absorbers in quasar spectra provide the most sensitive tools for measuring element abundances of distant galaxies. Estimation of abundances from absorption lines depends sensitively on the accuracy of the atomic data used. We have started a project to produce new atomic spectroscopic parameters for optical/UV spectral lines using state-of-the-art computer codes employing very broad configuration interaction basis. Here we report our results for Zn II, an ion used widely in studies of the interstellar medium (ISM) as well as DLA/sub-DLAs. We report new calculations of many energy levels of Zn II, and the line strengths of the resulting radiative transitions. Our calculations use the configuration interaction approach within a numerical Hartree-Fock framework. We use both non-relativistic and quasi-relativistic one-electron radial orbitals. We have incorporated the results of these atomic calculations into the plasma simulation code Cloudy, and applied them to a lab plasma and examples of a DLA and a sub-DLA. Our values of the Zn II λλ 2026, 2062 oscillator strengths are higher than previous values by 0.10 dex. Cloudy calculations for representative absorbers with the revised Zn atomic data imply ionization corrections lower than calculated before by 0.05 dex. The new results imply Zn metallicities should be lower by 0.1 dex for DLAs and by 0.13-0.15 dex for sub-DLAs than in past studies. Our results can be applied to other studies of Zn II in the Galactic and extragalactic ISM.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

Probing Interstellar Silicate Dust Grain Properties in Quasar Absorption Systems at Redshifts z<1.4

Absorption lines in the spectra of distant quasars whose sightlines pass through foreground galaxies provide a valuable tool to probe the dust and gas compositions of the interstellar medium (ISM) in galaxies. The first evidence of silicate dust in a quasar absorption system (QAS) was provided through our detection of the 10 micron silicate feature in the z=0.52 absorber toward the quasar AO 0235+164. We present results from 2 follow-up programs using archival Spitzer Space Telescope infrared spectra to study the interstellar silicate dust grain properties in a total of 13 QASs at 0.1<z<1.4. We find clear detections of the 10 micron silicate feature in the QASs studied. We also detect the 18 micron silicate feature in the sources with adequate spectral coverage. We find variations in the breadth, peak wavelength, and substructure of the 10 micron interstellar silicate absorption features among the absorbers. This suggests that the silicate dust grain properties in these distant galaxies may differ relative to one another, and relative to those in the Milky Way. We also find suggestions in several sources, based on comparisons with laboratory-derived profiles from the literature, that the silicate dust grains may be significantly more crystalline than those in the amorphous Milky Way ISM. This is particularly evident in the z=0.89 absorber toward the quasar PKS 1830-211, where substructure near 10 micron is consistent with a crystalline olivine composition. If confirmed, these grain property variations may have implications for both dust and galaxy evolution over the past 9 Gyrs, and for the commonly-made assumption that high-redshift dust is similar to local dust. We also discuss indications of trends between silicate dust absorption strength and both carbonaceous dust properties and gas-phase metal properties, such as the gas velocity spread, determined from UV/optical spectra.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2013

Element Abundances at High-redshift: Magellan MIKE Observations of sub-Damped Lyman-alpha Absorbers at 1.7 < z <2.4

We present chemical abundance measurements from high-resolution observations of 5 sub-damped Lyman-alpha absorbers at 1.7 < z < 2.4 observed with the Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle (MIKE) spectrograph on the 6.5-m Magellan II Clay telescope. Lines of Zn II, Mg I, Mg II, Al II, Al III, S II, Si II, Si IV, C II, C II*, C IV, Ni II, Mn II and Fe II were detected and column densities were determined. The metallicity of the absorbing gas, inferred from the nearly undepleted element Zn, is in the range of < -0.95 to +0.25 dex for the five absorbers in our sample, with three of the systems being near-solar or super-solar. We also investigate the effect of ionisation on the observed abundances using photoionisation modelling. Combining our data with other sub-DLA and DLA data from the literature, we report the most complete existing determination of the metallicity vs. redshift relation for sub-DLAs and DLAs. We confirm the suggestion from previous investigations that sub-DLAs are, on average, more metal-rich than DLAs and evolve faster. We also discuss relative abundances and abundance ratios in these absorbers. The more metal-rich systems show significant dust depletion levels, as suggested by the ratios [Zn/Cr] and [Zn/Fe]. For the majority of the systems in our sample, the [Mn/Fe] vs. [Zn/H] trend is consistent with that seen previously for lower-redshift sub-DLAs. We also measure the velocity width values for the sub-DLAs in our sample from unsaturated absorption lines of Fe II 2344, 2374, 2600 A, and examine where these systems lie in a plot of metallicity vs. velocity dispersion. Finally, we examine cooling rate vs. H I column density in these sub-DLAs, and compare this with the data from DLAs and the Milky Way ISM. We find that most of the systems in our sample show higher cooling rate values compared to those seen in the DLAs.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

A Super-Damped Lyman-alpha QSO Absorber at z=2.2

We report the discovery of a "super-damped" Lyman-alpha absorber at $z_{abs}=2.2068$ toward QSO Q1135-0010 in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and follow-up VLT UVES spectroscopy. Voigt profile fit to the DLA line indicates log $N_{\rm H I} = 22.05 \pm 0.1$. This is the second QSO DLA discovered to date with such high $N_{\rm H I}$. We derive element abundances [Si/H] = $-1.10 \pm 0.10$, [Zn/H] = $-1.06 \pm 0.10$, [Cr/H] = $-1.55 \pm 0.10$, [Ni/H] = $-1.60 \pm 0.10$, [Fe/H] = $-1.76 \pm 0.10$, [Ti/H] = $-1.69 \pm 0.11$, [P/H] = $-0.93 \pm 0.23$, and [Cu/H] = $-0.75 \pm 0.14$. Our data indicate detection of Ly-$α$ emission in the DLA trough, implying a star formation rate of $\sim$10 $M_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ in the absence of dust attenuation. C II$^{*} \, λ1336$ absorption is also detected, suggesting SFR surface density $-2 < {\rm log} \, \dot{ψ_{*}} < 0$ $M_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-2}$. We estimate electron density in the range $3.5 \times 10^{-4}$ to 24.7 cm$^{-3}$ from C II$^{*}$/C II, and $\sim$0.5-0.9 cm$^{-3}$ from Si II$^{*}$/Si II. Overall, this is a robustly star-forming, moderately enriched absorber, but with relatively low dust depletion. Fitting of the SDSS spectrum yields low reddening for Milky Way, LMC, or SMC extinction curves. No CO absorption is detected, and C I absorption is weak. The low dust and molecular content, reminiscent of some SMC sight-lines, may result from the lower metallicity, and a stronger radiation field (due to higher SFR). Finally, we compare this absorber with other QSO and GRB DLAs.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

Interstellar Silicate Dust in the z=0.89 Absorber Towards PKS 1830-211: Crystalline Silicates at High Redshift?

We present evidence of a >10-sigma detection of the 10 micron silicate dust absorption feature in the spectrum of the gravitationally lensed quasar PKS 1830-211, produced by a foreground absorption system at redshift 0.886. We have examined more than 100 optical depth templates, derived from both observations of Galactic and extragalactic sources and laboratory measurements, in order to constrain the chemical structure of the silicate dust. We find that the best fit to the observed absorption profile is produced by laboratory crystalline olivine, with a corresponding peak optical depth of tau_10=0.27+/-0.05. The fit is slightly improved upon by including small contributions from additional materials such as silica, enstatite, or serpentine, which suggests that the dust composition may consist of a blend of crystalline silicates. Combining templates for amorphous and crystalline silicates, we find that the fraction of crystalline silicates needs to be at least 95%. Given the rarity of extragalactic sources with such a high degree of silicate crystallinity, we also explore the possibility that the observed spectral features are produced by amorphous silicates in combination with other molecular or atomic transitions, or by foreground source contamination. While we cannot rule out these latter possibilities, they lead to much poorer profile fits than for the crystalline olivine templates. If the presence of crystalline interstellar silicates in this distant galaxy is real, it would be highly unusual, given that the Milky Way interstellar matter contains essentially only amorphous silicates. It is possible that the z=0.886 absorber towards PKS 1830-211, well known for its high molecular content, has a unique star-forming environment that enables crystalline silicates to form and prevail.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2010

Do Damped and Sub-damped Lyman-alpha Absorbers Arise in Galaxies of Different Masses?

We consider the questions of whether the damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) and sub-DLA absorbers in quasar spectra differ intrinsically in metallicity, and whether they could arise in galaxies of different masses. Using the recent measurements of the robust metallicity indicators Zn and S in DLAs and sub-DLAs, we confirm that sub-DLAs have higher mean metallicities than DLAs, especially at $z \lesssim 2$. We find that the intercept of the metallicity-redshift relation derived from Zn and S is higher than that derived from Fe by 0.5-0.6 dex. We also show that, while there is a correlation between the metallicity and the rest equivalent width of Mg II $λ2796$ or Fe II $λ2599$ for DLAs, no correlation is seen for sub-DLAs. Given this, and the similar Mg II or Fe II selection criteria employed in the discovery of both types of systems at lower redshifts, the difference between metallicities of DLAs and sub-DLAs appears to be real and not an artefact of selection. This conclusion is supported by our simulations of Mg II $λ2796$ and Fe II $λ2599$ lines for a wide range of physical conditions. On examining the velocity spreads of the absorbers, we find that sub-DLAs show somewhat higher mean and median velocity spreads ($Δv$), and an excess of systems with $Δv > 150$ km s$^{-1}$, than DLAs. Compared to DLAs, the [Mn/Fe] vs. [Zn/H] trend for sub-DLAs appears to be steeper and closer to the trend for Galactic bulge and thick disk stars, possibly suggesting different stellar populations. The absorber data appear to be consistent with galaxy down-sizing. The data are also consistent with the relative number densities of low-mass and high-mass galaxies. It is thus plausible that sub-DLAs arise in more massive galaxies on average than DLAs.

astro-ph.GA↗