The evolution of HI and CIV quasar absorption line systems at 1.9 < z < 3.2

Abstract: We have investigated the distribution and evolution of ~3100 intergalactic HI absorbers with HI column densities log N(HI) = [12.75, 17.0] at 1.9 < z < 3.2, using 18 high resolution, high S/N quasar spectra obtained from the ESO VLT/UVES archive. We used two sets of Voigt profile fitting analysis, one including all the available high-order Lyman lines to obtain reliable HI column densities of saturated lines, and another using only the Ly-alpha lines. There is no significant difference between the results from the two fits. Combining our results with literature data, the mean number density at 0 < z < 4 is not well described by a single power law and strongly suggests that its evolution slows down at z < 1.5 at the high and low column density ranges. We also divided our entire HI absorbers at 1.9 < z < 3.2 into two samples, the unenriched forest and the CIV-enriched forest, depending on whether HI lines are associated with CIV at log N(CIV) > 12.2 within a given velocity range. The entire HI column density distribution function (CDDF) can be described as the combination of these two well-characterised populations which overlap at log N(HI) ~ 15. At log N(HI) < 15, the unenriched forest dominates, showing a similar power-law distribution to the entire forest. The CIV-enriched forest dominates at log N(HI) > 15, with its distribution function proportional to N(HI)^-1.45. However, it starts to flatten out at lower N(HI), since the enriched forest fraction decreases with decreasing N(HI). The deviation from the power law at log N(HI) = [14, 17] shown in the CDDF for the entire HI sample is a result of combining two different HI populations with a different CDDF shape. The total HI mass density relative to the critical density is Omega(HI) ~ 1.6 x 10^-6 h^-1, where the enriched forest accounts for ~40% of Omega(HI).