MODERATE C IV ABSORBER SYSTEMS REQUIRE 10{sup 12} M{sub Sun} DARK MATTER HALOS AT z {approx} 2.3: A CROSS-CORRELATION STUDY OF C IV ABSORBER SYSTEMS AND QUASARS IN SDSS-III BOSS DR9

Journal Article · Wed May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/768/1/38· OSTI ID:22126828

Vikas, Shailendra; Wood-Vasey, W. Michael ^[1]; Lundgren, Britt ^[2]; Ross, Nicholas P. ^[3]; Myers, Adam D. ^[4]; AlSayyad, Yusra ^[5]; York, Donald G. ^[6]; Schneider, Donald P. ^[7]; Brinkmann, J.; Bizyaev, Dmitry; Brewington, Howard; Malanushenko, Elena; Malanushenko, Viktor; Oravetz, Daniel; Pan, Kaike; Snedden, Stephanie ^[8]; Ge, Jian ^[9]; Muna, Demitri ^[10]; Paris, Isabelle; Petitjean, Patrick ^[11] ; others, and

---

1. Pittsburgh Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology Center (PITT PACC), Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States)
2. Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511 (United States)
3. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 92420 (United States)
4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071 (United States)
5. Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States)
6. Department of Astronomy, University of Chicago, 5640 S. Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States)
7. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)
8. Apache Point Observatory, P.O. Box 59, Sunspot, NM 88349-0059 (United States)
9. Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States)
10. Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, New York University, New York, NY 10003 (United States)
11. UPMC-CNRS, UMR7095, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, F-75014 Paris (France)

We measure the two-point cross-correlation function of C IV absorber systems and quasars, using spectroscopic data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS; Data Release 9). The 19,701 quasars and 6149 C IV ''moderate'' absorbers, 0.28 A < rest-frame equivalent width (EW) < 5 A, in our study cover a redshift range of 2.1 < z < 2.5 over 3300 deg{sup 2} and represent a factor of two increase in sample size over previous investigations. We find a correlation scale length and slope of the redshift-space cross-correlation function of s{sub 0} = 8.46 {+-} 1.24 Mpc, {gamma} = 1.68 {+-} 0.19, in the redshift-space range 10 < s < 100 Mpc. We find a projected cross-correlation function of C IV absorption systems and quasars of r{sub 0} = 7.76 {+-} 2.80 Mpc, {gamma} = 1.74 {+-} 0.21. We measure the combined quasar and C IV bias to be b{sub QSO} b{sub C{sub IV}} = 8.81 {+-} 2.28. Using an estimate of b{sub QSO} from the quasar auto-correlation function we find b{sub CIV} = 2.38 {+-} 0.62. This b{sub CIV} implies that EW > 0.28 A C IV absorbers at z {approx} 2.3 are typically found in dark matter halos that have masses {>=}10{sup 11.3}-10{sup 13.4} M{sub Sun} at that redshift. The complete BOSS sample will triple the number of both quasars and absorption systems and increase the power of this cross-correlation measurement by a factor of two.

• OSTI ID: 22126828
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 768, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ABSORPTION
CORRELATION FUNCTIONS
CORRELATIONS
MASS
NONLUMINOUS MATTER
OSCILLATIONS
QUASARS
RED SHIFT
SKY
SPACE
UNIVERSE