eprintid: 23691
rev_number: 36
eprint_status: archive
userid: 3366
dir: disk0/00/02/36/91
datestamp: 2017-11-17 07:52:38
lastmod: 2017-12-15 11:10:22
status_changed: 2017-11-17 07:52:38
type: doctoralThesis
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Sorini, Daniele
title: Constraining the Physics of the Intergalactic and Circumgalactic Media with Lyman-alpha Absorption
subjects: ddc-520
subjects: ddc-530
divisions: i-714200
divisions: i-741010
divisions: i-851310
adv_faculty: af-13
keywords: cosmology - galaxy formation - intergalactic medium - circumgalactic medium - quasar - Lyman-alpha - absorption spectra
abstract: Lyman-alpha (Ly-a) absorption features detected in quasar spectra in the redshift range 0<z<6 are a powerful tool to probe the intergalactic and circumgalactic media (IGM and CGM) and, consequently, to constrain models of galaxy formation and cosmology. In the first part of this thesis, I overcome certain numerical challenges posed by cosmological hydrodynamic simulations by developing a novel semi-analytic technique to predict various statistics of the Ly-a absorption in the IGM with large N-body cosmological simulations. The technique developed in this work is more accurate than previous attempts in the literature. More importantly, it can be applied on Gpc-scale N-body simulations, allowing an accurate investigation of the Ly-a absorption at unprecedentedly large scales. In the second part of the thesis, I consider observations of Ly-a absorption in spectra of background quasars at different transverse separations (between 25 kpc and 17 Mpc) from foreground galaxies, and compare them with the predictions of different state-of-the-art hydrodynamic cosmological simulations. For the first time, I show that combining observations of Ly-a absorption in the IGM and the CGM can tightly constrain the models of sub-resolution physical processes implemented in simulations (e.g., feedback). With near-future high-precision observations of Ly-a absorption, the tools developed in this work will set the stage for even stronger constraints on models of galaxy formation and cosmology.
date: 2017
id_scheme: DOI
id_number: 10.11588/heidok.00023691
ppn_swb: 1657415279
own_urn: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-236915
date_accepted: 2017-10-17
advisor: HASH(0x561a628bd648)
language: eng
bibsort: SORINIDANICONSTRAINI2017
full_text_status: public
citation:   Sorini, Daniele  (2017) Constraining the Physics of the Intergalactic and Circumgalactic Media with Lyman-alpha Absorption.  [Dissertation]     
document_url: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/23691/1/PhD_Thesis_Sorini_heiDOK_PDFA.pdf