2016/04/07 by Charles W. Finn, S. L. Morris, Simon L. Morris +16 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Correlation function (quantum field theory) #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Galaxy formation and evolution #Intergalactic travel #Physics #Redshift #Star formation #Velocity dispersion #astro-ph.CO #astro-ph.GA
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/mnras/stw918
Revised submission to MNRAS, having addressed the referee's comments. 27 pages, 19 figures, 5 tables
arxiv created 2016/04/07 · openalex publication_date 2016/04/21 · arxiv updated 2016/04/27 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present new results on the auto- and cross-correlation functions of galaxies and O vi absorbers in a ∼18 Gpc3 comoving volume at z < 1. We use a sample of 51 296 galaxies and 140 O vi absorbers in the column density range 13 ≲ log N ≲ 15 to measure two-point correlation functions in the two dimensions transverse and orthogonal to the line of sight ξ(r⊥, r∥). We furthermore infer the corresponding ‘real-space’ correlation functions, ξ(r), by projecting ξ(r⊥, r∥) along r∥, and assuming a power-law form, ξ(r) = (r/r0)−γ. Comparing the results from the absorber-galaxy cross-correlation function, ξag, the galaxy autocorrelation function, ξgg, and the absorber autocorrelation function, ξaa, we constrain the statistical connection between galaxies and the metal-enriched intergalactic medium as a function of star formation activity. We also compare these results to predictions from the eagle cosmological hydrodynamical simulation and find a reasonable agreement. We find that: (i) O vi absorbers show very little velocity dispersion with respect to galaxies on ∼ Mpc scales, likely ≲100 km s−1; (ii) O vi absorbers are less clustered, and potentially more extended around galaxies than galaxies are around themselves; (iii) on ≳100 kpc scales, the likelihood of finding O vi absorbers around star-forming galaxies is similar to the likelihood of finding O vi absorbers around non-star-forming galaxies; and (iv) O vi absorbers are either not ubiquitous to galaxies in our sample, or their distribution around them is patchy on scales ≳100 kpc (or both), at least for the column densities at which most are currently detected.