The CGM–GRB Study. I. Uncovering the Circumgalactic Medium around GRB Hosts at Redshifts 2–6

Abstract

Abstract Recent studies have revealed a dynamic interplay between the galaxy ecosystem and circumgalactic medium (CGM). We investigate the CGM at high redshifts (z ≳ 2) by using bright afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) as background sources. We compiled a sample of medium-resolution (Δv < 50 km s−1) and high signal-to-noise ratio (typical S/N ∼ 10) spectra from 27 GRB afterglows covering z ∼ 2–6, with six of them at z ≳ 4. We analyzed the high- and low-ionization absorption features within ±400 km s−1 to extract the CGM and interstellar medium (ISM) kinematics. In the stacked spectra, high-ionization absorption profiles (e.g., C iv, Si iv) present significant absorption excess in their blue wings (v < −100 km s−1) relative to the red wings (v > 100 km s−1). The stronger blue wings in high-ionization species are indicative of the presence of ubiquitous warm outflows in the GRB hosts at high redshifts. We used simple toy models to kinematically distinguish the CGM and ISM absorption and estimate the CGM mass and outflow velocity. We find tentative evidence of the evolution of the CGM metal mass by ∼0.5 dex between two redshift bins, each spanning 1 Gyr, z1: 2–2.7 and z2: 2.7–5. By comparing with past studies, we find that over the course of evolution of present-day galaxies with M * > 1010 M ⊙, the ratio of C iv mass in the CGM to the stellar mass remains fairly uniform, with log(M C iv /M *) ∼ −4.5 within ±0.5 dex from z ∼ 4 to z ∼ 0, suggesting CGM–galaxy coevolution.