Journal
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Volume 561, Issue 2, Pages L153-L156Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1086/324761
Keywords
early universe; galaxies : formation; intergalactic medium; quasars : absorption lines
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It appears that the Ly forest is becoming thick at a redshift of about 5.5, cutting off the higher redshift intergalactic medium from view in neutral hydrogen. However, the effects of star formation at higher redshift are still readable in the intergalactic metal lines. In this Letter, I use observations of 32 quasars with emission redshifts in the range 2.31-5.86 to study the evolution of the intergalactic metal density from to z = 1.5 to z = 5.5. The C IV column density distribution function is consistent with being invariant throughout this redshift range. From direct integration, I determine Omega (C IV) to be in the range and (2.5-7) x 10(-8) and Omega (Si IV) in the range (0.9-3) x 10(-8) between z = 1.5 and z = 5. The metallicity at z = 5 exceeds 3.5 x 10(-4), which in turn implies that this fraction of the universal massive star formation took place beyond this redshift. This is sufficient to have ionized the intergalactic medium.
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