Publication Date

2001

Abstract

This paper discusses a semi-numerical method of investigating
the enrichment of the intergalactic medium by galactic winds. We
find that most galaxies at z ¡« > 3 should be driving winds, and that (if
these winds are similar to those at low z) these winds should escape to
large distances. Our calculations ¨C which permit exploration of a large
region of model parameter space ¨C indicate that the wind velocity, the
mass of the wind-driving galaxies, the fraction of ambient material entrained,
and the available time (between wind launch and the observed
redshift) all affect wind propagation significantly; other physical effects
can be important but are sub-dominant. We find that under reasonable
assumptions, the enrichment by 3 ¡« < z ¡« < 6 galaxies could account for the
quantity of metals seen in the Ly¦Á forest, though it is presently unclear
whether this enrichment is compatible with the intergalactic medium¡¯s
detailed metal distribution or relative quiescence.

Comments

This is the pre-published version harvested from ArXiv. The published version is located at http://www.aspbooks.org/a/volumes/article_details/?paper_id=23974

Volume

253

Pages

381

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