Absorption in multiphase circumgalactic medium

The lack of detected heavy elements in low- and high-ionization states suggests that either there exists a chemical enrichment edge at d~0.7R_h_ or gaseous clumps giving rise to the observed absorption lines cannot survive at these large distances. Considering all galaxies at d>R_h_ leads to a strict upper limit for the covering fraction of heavy elements of ~3% (at a 95% confidence level) over d=(1-9)R_h_. At d<R_h_, differential covering fraction between low- and high-ionization gas is observed, suggesting that the CGM becomes progressively more ionized from d<0.3R_h_ to larger distances.

Comparing CGM absorption observations at low and high redshifts shows that at a fixed fraction of R_h_ the CGM exhibits stronger mean absorption at z=2.2 than at z~0, and that the distinction is most pronounced in low-ionization species traced by CII and SiII absorption lines. We discuss possible pseudo-evolution of the CGM as a result of misrepresentation of halo radius, and present a brief discussion on the implications of these findings.