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| Natura: | Preprint |
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2025
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| Accesso online: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.13170 |
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| _version_ | 1866912495559507968 |
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| author | Kumar, Suyash Chen, Hsiao-Wen |
| author_facet | Kumar, Suyash Chen, Hsiao-Wen |
| contents | This paper presents an updated framework for studying the ionizing conditions and elemental abundances of photoionized, metal-enriched quasar absorption systems. The standard assumption of ionization equilibrium invoked in absorption line analyses requires gas to cool on longer timescales than ionic recombination (t_cool >> t_rec). However, this assumption may not be valid at high metallicities due to enhanced cooling losses. This work presents a suite of time-dependent photoionization (TDP) models that self-consistently solve for the ionization state of rapidly cooling gas irradiated by the extragalactic ultraviolet background (UVB). The updated framework explores various revised UVBs from recent studies, a range of initial temperatures, and different elemental abundance patterns to quantify the effects of TDP on the observed ion fractions. A metal-enriched ($\mathrm{[α/H]}=0.6_{-0.1}^{+0.2}$) C IV absorption system at z ~ 1 previously studied using photoionization equilibrium (PIE) models is re-examined under the TDP framework. The main findings are as follows: (1) varying prescriptions for the underlying UVB or adopting initial temperatures T_0 < 1e6 K (with the starting ionization state in collisional equilibrium) change TDP ion fractions by up to a factor of three and ten respectively, but the adopted relative elemental abundance pattern affects ion fractions by at most 40%; (2) the inferred gas densities are consistent between PIE and TDP, but under TDP solar metallicity cannot be ruled out at more than 2-$σ$ significance and a non-solar [C/$α$]$\approx 0.25$ is robustly constrained from the observed relative ion abundances. Extending the TDP analyses to a larger sample of super-solar absorption components with high signal-to-noise absorption spectra is needed to quantify the fraction of metal absorbers originating in rapid cooling gas. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_13170 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Non-equilibrium ionization in the multiphase circumgalactic medium -- impact on quasar absorption-line analyses Kumar, Suyash Chen, Hsiao-Wen Astrophysics of Galaxies This paper presents an updated framework for studying the ionizing conditions and elemental abundances of photoionized, metal-enriched quasar absorption systems. The standard assumption of ionization equilibrium invoked in absorption line analyses requires gas to cool on longer timescales than ionic recombination (t_cool >> t_rec). However, this assumption may not be valid at high metallicities due to enhanced cooling losses. This work presents a suite of time-dependent photoionization (TDP) models that self-consistently solve for the ionization state of rapidly cooling gas irradiated by the extragalactic ultraviolet background (UVB). The updated framework explores various revised UVBs from recent studies, a range of initial temperatures, and different elemental abundance patterns to quantify the effects of TDP on the observed ion fractions. A metal-enriched ($\mathrm{[α/H]}=0.6_{-0.1}^{+0.2}$) C IV absorption system at z ~ 1 previously studied using photoionization equilibrium (PIE) models is re-examined under the TDP framework. The main findings are as follows: (1) varying prescriptions for the underlying UVB or adopting initial temperatures T_0 < 1e6 K (with the starting ionization state in collisional equilibrium) change TDP ion fractions by up to a factor of three and ten respectively, but the adopted relative elemental abundance pattern affects ion fractions by at most 40%; (2) the inferred gas densities are consistent between PIE and TDP, but under TDP solar metallicity cannot be ruled out at more than 2-$σ$ significance and a non-solar [C/$α$]$\approx 0.25$ is robustly constrained from the observed relative ion abundances. Extending the TDP analyses to a larger sample of super-solar absorption components with high signal-to-noise absorption spectra is needed to quantify the fraction of metal absorbers originating in rapid cooling gas. |
| title | Non-equilibrium ionization in the multiphase circumgalactic medium -- impact on quasar absorption-line analyses |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.13170 |