Gas Filaments Research Articles

ALMA Observations of NGC 6334S. II. Subsonic and Transonic Narrow Filaments in a High-mass Star Formation Cloud

Abstract We present a study of narrow filaments toward a massive infrared dark cloud, NGC 6334S, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Thirteen gas filaments are identified using the H13CO+ line, while a single continuum filament is revealed by the continuum emission. The filaments present a compact radial distribution with a median filament width of ∼0.04 pc, narrower than the previously proposed “quasi-universal” 0.1 pc filament width. The higher spatial resolution observations and higher density gas tracer tend to identify even narrower and lower mass filaments. The filament widths are roughly twice the size of embedded cores. The gas filaments are largely supported by thermal motions. The nonthermal motions are predominantly subsonic and transonic in both identified gas filaments and embedded cores, which may imply that stars are likely born in environments of low turbulence. A fraction of embedded objects show a narrower velocity dispersion compared with their corresponding natal filaments, which may indicate that turbulent dissipation is taking place in these embedded cores. The physical properties (mass, mass per unit length, gas kinematics, and width) of gas filaments are analogous to those of narrow filaments found in low- to high-mass star-forming regions. The more evolved sources are found to be farther away from the filaments, a situation that may have resulted from the relative motions between the young stellar objects and their natal filaments.

First look at the topology of reionisation redshifts in models of the epoch of reionisation

Context. During the epoch of reionisation (EoR), the first stars and galaxies appeared while creating ionised bubbles that eventually percolated near z ∼ 6. These ionised bubbles and percolation process are closely scrutinised today because observations of neutral hydrogen will be carried on in the next decade with the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope, for instance. In the meantime, EoR studies are performed in semi-analytical and fully numerical cosmological simulations to investigate the topology of the process, for instance. Aims. We analyse the topology of EoR models by studying regions that are under the radiative influence of ionisation sources. These regions are associated with peak patches of the reionisation redshift field, for which we measure the general properties such as their number, size, shape, and orientation. We aim to gain insights into the geometry of the reionisation process and its relation to the matter distribution, for example. We also assess how these measurements can be used to quantify the effect of physical parameters on the EoR models or the differences between fully numerical simulations and semi-analytical models. Methods. We used the framework of Morse theory and persistent homology in the context of the EoR, which was investigated via the DisPerSE algorithm on gas density and redshift of reionisation maps. We analysed different EoR scenarios with semi-analytical 21cmFAST and fully numerical EMMA simulations. Results. We can distinguish between EoR models with different sources using simple analyses of the number, shape, and size distributions of the reionisation redshift patches. For every model (of the semi-analytical and fully numerical simulations), we statistically show that these bubbles are rather prolate and aligned with the underlying gas filaments. Moreover, we briefly highlight that the percolation process of HII bubbles during the EoR can be followed by studying the reionisation redshift fields with different persistence thresholds. Finally, we show that fully numerical EMMA simulations can be made consistent with 21cmFAST models in this topological framework as long as the source distribution is diffuse enough.

Impact of Cosmic Filaments on the Gas Accretion Rate of Dark Matter Halos

Abstract We investigate the impact of cosmic filaments on the gas accretion rate, M ̇ gas , of dark matter halos in filaments, based on cosmological hydrodynamic simulation. We find that for halos less massive than 1012.0 M ⊙, M ̇ gas of halos residing in prominent filaments (with width D fil > 3 Mpc h −1) is lower than halos residing in tenuous filaments (D fil < 3 Mpc h −1) by 20%–30% at z = 0.5 and by a factor of 2–3 at z = 0. However, M ̇ gas depends weakly on the physical distance between halo center and the spine of filaments from high redshift to z = 0 and only shows a clear difference between the inner and outer regions in prominent filaments at z = 0. We further probe the thermal properties of gas in prominent and tenuous filaments, which appear in relatively highly and intermediate overdense regions, respectively. The gas in prominent filaments is hotter. Around 26%, 38%, and 45% of gases in prominent filaments are hotter than 106 K at z = 1.0, 0.5, and 0.0, respectively. The corresponding fractions in tenuous filaments are merely ∼6%, 9%, and 11%. The suppressed gas accretion rate for low-mass halos in prominent filaments at z ≲ 0.5 may result from the hotter ambient gas, which could provide a physical processing mechanism to cut down the supply of gas to halos before they enter clusters. This process partially meets the need of the preheating mechanism implemented in some semianalytical models of galaxy formation but works only for ∼20% of halos at z < 1.

Formation of galactic bulges from the cold gas filaments in high-redshift dark matter haloes

ABSTRACT Formation process(es) of galactic bulges are not yet clarified, although several mechanisms have been proposed. In a previous study, we suggested one possibility that galactic bulges have been formed from the cold gas inflowing through surrounding hot halo gas in massive dark matter haloes at high redshifts. It was shown that this scenario leads to the bulge-to-total stellar mass ratio increasing with the galaxy mass, in agreement with the well-known observed trend. We here indicate that it also reproduces recent observational results that the mean stellar age of the bulge increases with the galaxy mass while the age gradient across the bulge decreases. We infer that this formation path applies mainly to high-mass galaxies and the bulges in lower mass galaxies have different origins such as secular formation from the disc material.

A high-resolution view of the filament of gas between Abell 399 and Abell 401 from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and MUSTANG-2

ABSTRACTWe report a significant detection of the hot intergalactic medium in the filamentary bridge connecting the galaxy clusters Abell 399 and Abell 401. This result is enabled by a low-noise, high-resolution map of the thermal Sunyaev–Zeldovich signal from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and Planck satellite. The ACT data provide the 1.65 arcmin resolution that allows us to clearly separate the profiles of the clusters, whose centres are separated by 37 arcmin, from the gas associated with the filament. A model that fits for only the two clusters is ruled out compared to one that includes a bridge component at >5σ. Using a gas temperature determined from Suzaku X-ray data, we infer a total mass of $(3.3\pm 0.7)\times 10^{14}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$ associated with the filament, comprising about 8 per cent of the entire Abell 399–Abell 401 system. We fit two phenomenological models to the filamentary structure; the favoured model has a width transverse to the axis joining the clusters of ${\sim }1.9\, \mathrm{Mpc}$. When combined with the Suzaku data, we find a gas density of $(0.88\pm 0.24)\times 10^{-4}\, \mathrm{cm}^{-3}$, considerably lower than previously reported. We show that this can be fully explained by a geometry in which the axis joining Abell 399 and Abell 401 has a large component along the line of sight, such that the distance between the clusters is significantly greater than the $3.2\, \mathrm{Mpc}$ projected separation on the plane of the sky. Finally, we present initial results from higher resolution (12.7 arcsec effective) imaging of the bridge with the MUSTANG-2 receiver on the Green Bank Telescope.

Oscillation of Gas Density in the Gas Filament Remained by a Streamer Discharge in Water

When a streamer discharge occurs in water, several luminous plasma filaments will be created in the water during the discharge. After the discharge, these plasma filaments turn into neutral gas phase and remain in water. The gas filament remained in water is a good object for studying the basic processes involved in the streamer propagation. We investigated the evolution of the gas filaments remained in water after a streamer discharge at different experimental conditions. We recorded eight successive images during one discharge pulse. The density of gas in the gas filament and the radius of the gas filament were measured from the obtained images. We found that the radius of the gas filament and the density of gas in the gas filament are almost not influenced by the impulse voltage within the range studied. While the conductivity of water has strong effect on the radius of the gas filament and the density of gas in the gas filament. The radius of the gas filament becomes thicker and expands faster as the conductivity of water becomes larger. The density of gas in the gas filament remained in water oscillates between 400 to 800 kg/m3 with an duration of ~10 μs during the expansion period of 4–39 μs after the HV pulse starts. Both the impulse voltage and the conductivity of water do not affect the oscillation duration of the density of gas in the gas filament.

Profiles of Cosmic Filaments Since z = 4.0 in Cosmological Hydrodynamical Simulation

Abstract A large portion of the baryons at low redshifts are still missing from detection. Most of the missing baryons are believed to reside in large-scale cosmic filaments. Understanding the distribution of baryons in filaments is crucial to the search for missing baryons. We investigate the properties of cosmic filaments since z = 4.0 in a cosmological hydrodynamic simulation, focusing on the density and temperature profiles perpendicular to the filament spines. Our quantitative evaluation confirms the rapid growth of thick and prominent filaments after z = 2. We find that the local linear density of filaments shows a correlation with the local diameter since z = 4.0. The averaged density profiles of both dark matter and baryonic gas in filaments of different widths show self-similarity, and can be described by an isothermal single-beta model. The typical gas temperature increases as the filament width increases, and is hotter than 106 K for filaments with width D fil ≳ 4.0 Mpc, which would be the optimal targets for the search of missing baryons via the thermal Sunyaev–Zel’dovich effect. The temperature rises significantly from the boundary to the inner core regime in filaments with D fil ≳ 4.0 Mpc, probably due to heating by accretion shock, while the temperature rises modestly in filaments with D fil < 4.0 Mpc.

Molecular gas along the old radio jets of the cluster-central type 2 quasar IRAS 09104+4109

ABSTRACT We present Northern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) CO(2–1) maps of the z = 0.4418 cluster-central quasi-stellar object (QSO) IRAS 09104+4109, which trace ∼4.5 × 1010 M⊙ of molecular gas in and around the galaxy. As in many low-redshift cool-core clusters, the molecular gas is located in a series of clumps extending along the old radio jets and lobes. It has a relatively low velocity dispersion [336$^{+39}_{-35}$ km s−1 full width at half-maximum (FWHM)] and shows no velocity gradients indicative of outflow or infall. Roughly half the gas is located in a central clump on the north-east side of the galaxy, overlapping a bright ionized gas filament and a spur of excess X-ray emission, suggesting that this is a location of rapid cooling. The molecular gas is unusually extended, out to ∼55 kpc radius, comparable to the scale of the filamentary nebula in the Perseus cluster, despite the much higher redshift of this system. The extent falls within the thermal instability radius of the intracluster medium (ICM), with tcool/$t_{\rm ff} \lt 25$ and tcool/$t_{\rm eddy} \sim 1$ within ∼70 kpc. Continuum measurements at 159.9 GHz from NOEMA and 850 $\mu$m from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) Submillimeter Common-User Bolometer Array 2 (SCUBA-2) show excess far-infrared emission, which we interpret as free–free emission arising from the ongoing starburst. These observations suggest that ICM cooling is not strongly affected by the buried QSO, and that cooling from the ICM can build gas reservoirs sufficient to fuel quasar-mode activity and drive the reorientation of the central active galactic nuclei (AGN).

Numerical prediction of breakup mode of contracting gas filament in liquid

AbstractThe breaking up of gas filament in liquid is important in many industrial and scientific applications. In this study, a transient axisymmetric model with the level set method is built up to examine the dynamics of a contracting gas filament, and to determine the effects of the aspect ratio, Ohnesorge (Oh) number, and viscosity ratio on its breakup mode. The filament undergoes no break, middle break, or end‐pinching modes with increasing aspect ratio at either a low or a high Oh number, and one critical initial aspect ratio is observed for each Oh number. The fate of the filament is determined by the interaction of capillary waves on its surface, and can be predicted accurately by using the one‐dimensional wave superposition method. The decreasing viscosity ratio of liquid over gas reduces the critical initial aspect ratio for the fate transition between the no break and breakup modes, and this effect is reduced at a low viscosity ratio. These findings may be helpful in fabricating gas bubbles and their breakup suppression.

TRAO Survey of the Nearby Filamentary Molecular Clouds, the Universal Nursery of Stars (TRAO FUNS). II. Filaments and Dense Cores in IC 5146

Abstract We present the results on the physical properties of filaments and dense cores in IC 5146, as a part of the TRAO FUNS project. We carried out on-the-fly mapping observations using the Taeduk Radio Astronomy Observatory (TRAO) 14 m telescope covering about 1 square degree of the area of IC 5146 using various molecular lines. We identified 14 filaments (24 in total, including sub-filaments) from the C18O (1–0) data cube and 22 dense cores from the N2H+ (1–0) data. We examined the filaments’ gravitational criticality, turbulence properties, accretion rate from filaments to dense cores, and relative evolutionary stages of cores. Most filaments in IC 5146 are gravitationally supercritical within the uncertainty, and most dense cores are formed in them. We found that dense cores in the hubs show a systemic velocity shift of ∼0.3 km s−1 between the N2H+ and C18O gas. Besides, these cores are subsonic or transonic, while the surrounding filament gas is transonic or supersonic, indicating that the cores in the hubs are likely formed by the dissipation of turbulence in the colliding turbulent filaments and the merging is still ongoing. We estimated a mass accretion rate of 15–35 M ⊙ Myr−1 from the filaments to the dense cores, and the required timescales to collect the current core mass are consistent with the lifetime of the dense cores. The structures of filaments and dense cores in the hub can form from a collision of turbulent converging flows, and mass flow along the filaments to the dense cores may play an important role in forming dense cores.

The Discovery of the Largest Gas Filament in Our Galaxy, or a New Spiral Arm?

Using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), we detect a giant HI filamentary structure in the sky region of 307$.\!\!^{\circ}$7 $<$ $\alpha$ $<$ 311$.\!\!^{\circ}$0 and 40$.\!\!^{\circ}$9 $<$ $\delta$ $<$ 43$.\!\!^{\circ}$4. The structure has a velocity range of $-$170 km s$^{-1}$ to $-$130 km s$^{-1}$, and a mean velocity of $-$150 km s$^{-1}$, putting it to a Galactocentric distance of 22 kpc. The HI structure has a length of 1.1 kpc, which appears to be so far the furthest and largest giant filament in the Galaxy and we name it Cattail. Its mass is calculated to be 6.5 $\times$ 10$^4$ M$_{\odot}$ and the linear mass density is 60 M$_{\odot}$ pc$^{-1}$. Its width is 207 pc, corresponding to an aspect ratio of 5:1. Cattail possesses a small velocity gradient (0.02 km s$^{-1}$ pc$^{-1}$) along its major axis. Together with the HI4PI data, we find that Cattail could have an even larger length, up to 5 kpc. We also identify another new elongated structure to be the extension into the Galactic first quadrant of the Outer Scutum-Centaurus (OSC) arm, and Cattail appears to be located far behind the OSC. The question about how such a huge filament is produced at the extreme Galactic location remains open. Alternatively, Cattail might be part of a new arm beyond the OSC, though it is puzzling that the structure does not fully follow the warp of the Galactic disk.

Extended neutral hydrogen filamentary network in NGC 2403

AbstractWe present new neutral hydrogen (Hi) observations of the nearby galaxy NGC 2403 to determine the nature of a low-column density cloud that was detected earlier by the Green Bank Telescope.We find that this cloud is the tip of a complex of filaments of extraplanar gas that is coincident with the main disk. The total Hi mass of the complex is 2 × 107 M⊙ or 0.6% of the total Hi mass of the galaxy. The main structure, previously referred to as the 8-kpc filament, is now seen to be even more extended, along a 20 kpc stream.

Dynamics and Morphology of Cold Gas in Fast, Radiatively Cooling Outflows: Constraining AGN Energetics with Horseshoes

Abstract Warm ionized and cold neutral outflows with velocities exceeding 100 km s−1 are commonly observed in galaxies and clusters. However, theoretical studies indicate that ram pressure from a hot wind, driven either by the central active galactic nucleus (AGN) or a starburst, cannot accelerate existing cold gas to such high speeds without destroying it. In this work we explore a different scenario, where cold gas forms in a fast, radiatively cooling outflow with temperature T ≲ 107 K. Using 3D hydrodynamic simulations, we demonstrate that cold gas continuously fragments out of the cooling outflow, forming elongated filamentary structures extending tens of kiloparsecs. For a range of physically relevant temperature and velocity configurations, a ring of cold gas perpendicular to the direction of motion forms in the outflow. This naturally explains the formation of transverse cold gas filaments such as the blue loop and the horseshoe filament in the Perseus cluster. Based on our results, we estimate that the AGN outburst responsible for the formation of these two features drove bipolar outflows with velocity &gt;2000 km s−1 and total kinetic energy &gt;8 × 1057 erg about ∼10 Myr ago. We also examine the continuous cooling in the mixing layer between hot and cold gas, and find that radiative cooling only accounts for ∼10% of the total mass cooling rate, indicating that observations of soft X-ray and far-ultraviolet emission may significantly underestimate the growth of cold gas in the cooling flow of galaxy clusters.

Thermodynamic evolution of the z = 1.75 galaxy cluster IDCS J1426.5+3508

ABSTRACT We present resolved thermodynamic profiles out to 500 kpc, about r500, of the z = 1.75 galaxy cluster IDCS J1426.5+3508 with 40 kpc resolution. Thanks to the combination of Sunyaev–Zel’dovich and X-ray data sets, IDCS J1426.5+3508 becomes the most distant cluster with resolved thermodynamic profiles. These are derived assuming a non-parametric pressure profile and a very flexible model for the electron density profile. The shape of the pressure profile is flatter than the universal pressure profile. The IDCS J1426.5+3508 temperature profile is increasing radially out to 500 kpc. To identify the possible future evolution of IDCS J1426.5+3508 , we compared it with its local descendants that numerical simulations show to be 0.65 ± 0.12 dex more massive. We found no evolution at 30 kpc, indicating a fine tuning between cooling and heating at small radii. At 30 &amp;lt; r &amp;lt; 300 kpc, our observations show that entropy and heat must be deposited with little net gas transfer, while at 500 kpc the gas need to be replaced by a large amount of cold, lower entropy gas, consistent with theoretical expectation of a filamentary gas stream, which brings low entropy gas to 500 kpc and energy at even smaller radii. At r ≳ 400 kpc the polytropic index takes a low value, which indicates the presence of a large amount of non-thermal pressure. Our work also introduces a new definition of the evolutionary rate that uses unscaled radii, unscaled thermodynamic quantities, and different masses at different redshifts to compare ancestors and descendants. It has the advantage of separating cluster evolution, dependence on mass, pseudo-evolution, and returns a number with unique interpretation, unlike other definitions used in literature.

Shock–multicloud interactions in galactic outflows – II. Radiative fractal clouds and cold gas thermodynamics

ABSTRACT Galactic winds are crucial to the cosmic cycle of matter, transporting material out of the dense regions of galaxies. Observations show the coexistence of different temperature phases in such winds, which is not easy to explain. We present a set of 3D shock–multicloud simulations that account for radiative heating and cooling at temperatures between $10^2$ and $10^7\, \rm K$. The interplay between shock heating, dynamical instabilities, turbulence, and radiative heating and cooling creates a complex multiphase flow with a rain-like morphology. Cloud gas fragments and is continuously eroded, becoming efficiently mixed and mass loaded. The resulting warm mixed gas then cools down and precipitates into new dense cloudlets, which repeat the process. Thus, radiative cooling is able to sustain fast-moving dense gas by aiding condensation of gas from warm clouds and the hot wind. In the ensuing outflow, hot gas with temperatures ${\gtrsim}10^6\, \rm K$ outruns the warm and cold phases, which reach thermal equilibrium near ${\approx}10^4$ and ${\approx}10^2\, \rm K$, respectively. Although the volume filling factor of hot gas is higher in the outflow, most of the mass is concentrated in dense gas cloudlets and filaments with these temperatures. More porous multicloud layers result in more vertically extended outflows, and dense gas is more efficiently produced in more compact layers. The cold phase is not accelerated by ram pressure, but, instead, precipitates from warm and mixed gas out of thermal equilibrium. This cycle can explain the presence of high-velocity H i gas with $N_{\rm H\, \small {I}}=10^{19\!-\!21}\, \rm cm^{-2}$ and $\Delta v_{{\rm FWHM}}\lesssim 37\, \rm km\, s^{-1}$ in the Galactic Centre outflow.

Origin of the redshifted hump in the spectrum of an ultrashort laser pulse under its filamentation in atomic and molecular gases

We experimentally compare spectrum conversion of an ultrashort laser pulse under its filamentation in various gases. The laser pulse propagation through both atomic and molecular gases is observed to result in a separated local maximum formation in the long-wavelength spectral wing. This redshifted hump is more noticeable and does have a higher amplitude under the laser pulse filamentation just in molecular gases as compared to atomic ones. Therefore, we claim that the laser pulse self-phase modulation plays a crucial role in the formation of such a hump, while the Raman scattering in molecular gases enhances this process efficiency.

Excitation mechanisms in the intracluster filaments surrounding brightest cluster galaxies

Context.The excitation of the filamentary gas structures surrounding giant elliptical galaxies at the center of cool-core clusters, also known as brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs), is key to our understanding of active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback, and of the impact of environmental and local effects on star formation.Aims.We investigate the contribution of thermal radiation from the cooling flow surrounding BCGs to the excitation of the filaments. We explore the effects of small levels of extra heating (turbulence), and of metallicity, on the optical and infrared lines.Methods.Using the CLOUDYcode, we modeled the photoionization and photodissociation of a slab of gas of optical depthAV ≤ 30 mag at constant pressure in order to calculate self-consistently all of the gas phases, from ionized gas to molecular gas. The ionizing source is the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft X-ray radiation emitted by the cooling gas. We tested these models comparing their predictions to the rich multi-wavelength observations from optical to submillimeter, now achieved in cool core clusters.Results.Such models of self-irradiated clouds, when reaching sufficiently largeAV, lead to a cloud structure with ionized, atomic, and molecular gas phases. These models reproduce most of the multi-wavelength spectra observed in the nebulae surrounding the BCGs, not only the low-ionization nuclear emission region like optical diagnostics, [O III]λ5007 Å/Hβ, [N II]λ6583 Å/Hα, and ([S II]λ6716 Å+[S II]λ6731 Å)/Hα, but also the infrared emission lines from the atomic gas. [O I]λ6300 Å/Hα, instead, is overestimated across the full parameter space, except for very lowAV. The modeled ro-vibrational H2lines also match observations, which indicates that near- and mid-infrared H2lines are mostly excited by collisions between H2molecules and secondary electrons produced naturally inside the cloud by the interaction between the X-rays and the cold gas in the filament. However, there is still some tension between ionized and molecular line tracers (i.e., CO), which requires optimization of the cloud structure and the density of the molecular zone. The limited range of parameters over which predictions match observations allows us to constrain, in spite of degeneracies in the parameter space, the intensity of X-ray radiation bathing filaments, as well as some of their physical properties likeAVor the level of turbulent heating rate.Conclusions.The reprocessing of the EUV and X-ray radiation from the plasma cooling is an important powering source of line emission from filaments surrounding BCGs. CLOUDYself-irradiated X-ray excitation models coupled with a small level of turbulent heating manage to simultaneously reproduce a large number of optical-to-infrared line ratios when all the gas phases (from ionized to molecular) are modeled self-consistently. Releasing some of the simplifications of our model, like the constant pressure, or adding the radiation fields from the AGN and stars, as well as a combination of matter- and radiation-bounded cloud distribution, should improve the predictions of line emission from the different gas phases.

Local flow dynamics in the motion of slug bubbles in a flowing mini square channel

For a slug flow flowing in a square capillary, the surrounding liquid flows through a thin film between the slug bubble and the wall and the corners of the channel and generates an asymmetric two-phase flow field with significant spatial variations. The current literature mainly discusses the bulk features of such a flow field, while local phenomena in these flows are not well known yet. In this study, the local dynamics of the liquid film and corner flows in a flowing square channel with a width of 3 mm were investigated by experiments and numerical simulations. Instantaneous velocity fields in the liquid flow were measured at the channel's central plane using particle tracking velocimetry (PTV). The obtained data were utilized to calculate the axial variations of the film and corner velocities. Three-dimensional numerical simulations with adaptive mesh refinement of the interface were performed for a series of flow conditions. Comparing the film velocity obtained from PTV and simulations demonstrates an overall good agreement between the results, with discrepancies close to the solid walls, where the PTV data is sporadic. Film and corner flows show rapid velocity changes adjacent to the minimum film area. Both experiments and simulations elucidate the backflow phenomena in the analyzed flow fields, where the liquid locally flows in the opposite streamwise direction. The backflow region shrinks as the liquid flow rate and speed of the bubble increase. Film flow shows significant pressure drops as it passes through the minimum film area. On the contrary, the corner flow does not demonstrate any rapid pressure fluctuations. The vortex structures’ identification revealed dominant vortex loops inside the gas and small-scale vortex filaments along the channel walls, generated from the liquid film rupture.

Prospects for observing the low-density cosmic web in Lyman-α emission

Mapping the intergalactic medium (IGM) in Lyman-α emission would yield unprecedented tomographic information on the large-scale distribution of baryons and potentially provide new constraints on the UV background and various feedback processes relevant to galaxy formation. In this work, we use a cosmological hydrodynamical simulation to examine the Lyman-α emission of the IGM resulting from collisional excitations and recombinations in the presence of a UV background. We focus on gas in large-scale-structure filaments in which Lyman-α radiative transfer effects are expected to be moderate. At low density the emission is primarily due to fluorescent re-emission of the ionising UV background as a result of recombinations, while collisional excitations dominate at higher densities. We discuss prospects of current and future observational facilities to detect this emission and find that the emission of filaments of the cosmic web are typically dominated by the halos and galaxies embedded in these filaments, rather than by the lower-density filament gas outside halos. Detecting filament gas directly would require a very long exposure with a MUSE-like instrument on the ELT. Our most robust predictions that act as lower limits indicate this would be slightly less challenging at lower redshifts (z ≲ 4). We also find that there is a large amount of variance between fields in our mock observations. High-redshift protoclusters appear to be the most promising environment to observe the filamentary IGM in Lyman-α emission.

Properties of gas phases around cosmic filaments atz= 0 in the IllustrisTNG simulation

We present the study of gas phases around cosmic-web filaments detected in the TNG300-1 hydro-dynamical simulation at redshiftz = 0. We separate the gas into five different phases according to temperature and density. We show that filaments are essentially dominated by gas in the warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM), which accounts for more than 80% of the baryon budget atr ∼ 1 Mpc. Apart from WHIM gas, cores of filaments (r ≤ 1 Mpc) also host large contributions from other hotter and denser gas phases, whose fractions depend on the filament population. By building temperature and pressure profiles, we find that gas in filaments is isothermal up tor ∼ 1.5 Mpc, with average temperatures ofTcore = 4−13 × 105K, depending on the large-scale environment. Pressure at cores of filaments is on averagePcore = 4−12 × 10−7keV.cm−3, which is ∼1000 times lower than pressure measured in observed clusters. We also estimate that the observed Sunyaev-Zel’dovich signal from cores of filaments should range between 0.5 &lt; y &lt; 4.1 × 10−8, and these results are compared with recent observations. Our findings show that the state of the gas in filaments depends on the presence of haloes and on the large-scale environment.