Christopher W. Churchill

From Metal—Line Absorption Profiles to Halo Kinematics?

We present work in progress of a detailed study of the kinematic, chemical, and ionization conditions of the halos of intermediate redshift (0.3 < z < 1.1) Mg II absorbing galaxies. We aim to incorporate detailed imaging information about the absorbing galaxies themselves with studies of high resolution QSO absorption profiles. We address the questions: “what physical processes are consistent with observed absorption signatures?” and “what parts of galactic halos give rise to what types of characteristic absorption profiles?” Answers to these questions promise to provide a foundation upon which we can interpret both high redshift QSO absorption and Galactic absorption within theories of galactic formation and evolution.