Missing Baryons Research Articles

The large-scale distribution of ionized metals in IllustrisTNG

ABSTRACT We study the intrinsic large-scale distribution and evolution of seven ionized metals in the IllustrisTNG magnetohydrodynamical cosmological simulation. We focus on the fractions of C ii, C iv, Mg ii, N v, Ne viii, O vi, and Si iv in different cosmic web structures (filaments, haloes, and voids) and gas phases (warm–hot intergalactic medium, hot, diffuse, and condensed gas) from z = 6 to z = 0. Our analysis provides a new perspective to the study of the distribution and evolution of baryons across cosmic time while offering new hints in the context of the well-known missing baryons problem. The cosmic web components are here identified using the local comoving dark matter density, which provides a simple but effective way of mapping baryons on large scales. Our results show that C ii and Mg ii are mostly located in condensed gas inside haloes in high-density and low-temperature star-forming regions ($\rho _{\rm gas}/\bar{\rho }_{\rm bar}\gtrsim 10^3$, and T ≲ 105 K). C iv and Si iv present similar evolution of their mass fractions in haloes and filaments across cosmic time. In particular, their mass budgets in haloes in condensed phase ($\rho _{\rm gas}/\bar{\rho }_{\rm bar}\gtrsim 10^3$, and T ≲ 105 K) are driven by gas cooling and star formation with a peak at z ∼ 2. Finally, our results confirm that O vi, Ne viii, and N v are good tracers of warm/hot and low-density gas at low redshift ($\rho _{\rm gas}/\bar{\rho }_{\rm bar}\lesssim 10^3$, and T ≳ 105 K), regions that are likely to contain most of the missing baryons in the local Universe.

The challenge of measuring and mapping the missing baryons

The missing baryon problem may now be resolved, but the exact location and physical properties of the diffuse component remains unclear. This problem could be tractable, but requires the combination of new galaxy redshift surveys with new X-ray and radio facilities.

星系紫外深场巡天观测进展

The ultraviolet band is an important part of the spectral energy distribution of galaxies; this wavelength region is rich in resonance lines of common elements in their neutral and ionized states. The ultraviolet continuum is also related to several key processes in astrophysics, providing essential constraints for theoretical studies. In extragalactic studies, ultraviolet radiation can be used to trace massive stars, providing an important tool to measure the cosmic star formation history. It can also be used to trace the accretion disks of massive black holes, which is necessary for understanding the accretion process. The key scientific issues in ultraviolet astronomy include the lack of knowledge on the star formation history and galaxy evolution at cosmic noon, the missing baryon problem, the source of reionization, and feedback of galaxy accretion and outflow. We herein review the status of various ultraviolet deep-field observations and the scientific possibilities of these data in extragalactic astronomy. We present the instrument parameters, scientific goals, data products, and the main discoveries of ultraviolet deep-field surveys. We also outline future ultraviolet projects and the science to be carried out in this field.

Probing the Universe with Fast Radio Bursts

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) represent a novel tool for probing the properties of the universe at cosmological distances. The dispersion measures of FRBs, combined with the redshifts of their host galaxies, has very recently yielded a direct measurement of the baryon content of the universe, and has the potential to directly constrain the location of the “missing baryons”. The first results are consistent with the expectations of ΛCDM for the cosmic density of baryons, and have provided the first constraints on the properties of the very diffuse intergalactic medium (IGM) and circumgalactic medium (CGM) around galaxies. FRBs are the only known extragalactic sources that are compact enough to exhibit diffractive scintillation in addition to showing exponential tails which are typical of scattering in turbulent media. This will allow us to probe the turbulent properties of the circumburst medium, the host galaxy ISM/halo, and intervening halos along the path, as well as the IGM. Measurement of the Hubble constant and the dark energy parameter w can be made with FRBs, but require very large samples of localised FRBs (>103) to be effective on their own—they are best combined with other independent surveys to improve the constraints. Ionisation events, such as for He ii, leave a signature in the dispersion measure—redshift relation, and if FRBs exist prior to these times, they can be used to probe the reionisation era, although more than 103 localised FRBs are required.

An EAGLE view of the missing baryons

Context. A significant fraction of the predicted baryons remain undetected in the local Universe. We adopted the common assumption that a large fraction of the missing baryons correspond to the hot (log T(K) = 5.5–7) phase of the warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM). We base our missing baryons search on the scenario whereby the WHIM has been heated up via accretion shocks and galactic outflows, and it is concentrated towards the filaments of the cosmic web. Aims. Our aim is to improve the observational search for the poorly detected hot WHIM. Methods. We detected the filamentary structure within the EAGLE hydrodynamical simulation by applying the Bisous formalism to the galaxy distribution. To test the reliability of our results, we used the MMF/NEXUS+ classification of the large-scale environment of the dark matter component in EAGLE. We then studied the spatio-thermal distribution of the hot baryons within the extracted filaments. Results. While the filaments occupy only ≈5% of the full simulation volume, the diffuse hot intergalactic medium in filaments amounts to ≈23%−25% of the total baryon budget, or ≈79%−87% of all the hot WHIM. The optimal filament sample, with a missing baryon mass fraction of ≈82%, is obtained by selecting Bisous filaments with a high galaxy luminosity density. For these filaments, we derived analytic formulae for the radial gas density and temperature profiles, consistent with recent Planck Sunyaev-Zeldovich and cosmic microwave background lensing observations within the central r ≈ 1 Mpc. Conclusions. Results from the EAGLE simulation suggest that the missing baryons are strongly concentrated towards the filament axes. Since the filament finding methods used here are applicable to galaxy surveys, a large fraction of the missing baryons can be localised by focusing the observational efforts on the central ∼1 Mpc regions of the filaments. To optimise the observational signal, it is beneficial to focus on the filaments with the highest galaxy luminosity densities detected in the optical data.

Hypersphere World-Universe Model: Evolution of the World

The main objective of this paper is to discuss the Evolution of a 3D Finite World (that is a Hypersphere of a 4D Nucleus of the World) from the Beginning up to the present Epoch in frames of World-Universe Model (WUM). WUM is the only cosmological model in existence that is consistent with the Law of Conservation of Angular Momentum. To be consistent with this Fundamental Law, WUM introduces Dark Epoch (spanning from the Beginning of the World for 0.45 billion years) when only Dark Matter (DM) Macroobjects (MOs) existed, and Luminous Epoch (ever since for 13.77 billion years) when Luminous MOs emerged due to Rotational Fission of Overspinning DM Superclusters’ Cores and self-annihilation of Dark Matter Particles (DMPs). WUM envisions that DM is created by the Universe in the 4D Nucleus of the World. Dark Matter Particles (DMPs) carry new DM into the 3D Hypersphere World. Luminous Matter is a byproduct of DMPs self-annihilation. By analogy with 3D ball, which has two-dimensional sphere surface (that has surface energy), we can imagine that the 3D Hypersphere World has a “Surface Energy” of the 4D Nucleus. WUM solves a number of physical problems in contemporary Cosmology and Astrophysics through DMPs and their interactions: Angular Momentum problem in birth and subsequent evolution of Galaxies and Extrasolar systems—how do they obtain it; Fermi Bubbles—two large structures in gamma-rays and X-rays above and below Galactic center; Missing Baryon problem related to the fact that the observed amount of baryonic matter did not match theoretical predictions. WUM reveals Inter-Connectivity of Primary Cosmological Parameters and calculates their values, which are in good agreement with the latest results of their measurements. In 2013, WUM predicted the values of the following Cosmological parameters: gravitational, concentration of intergalactic plasma, and the minimum energy of photons, which were experimentally confirmed in 2015-2018. “The Discovery of a Supermassive Compact Object at the Centre of Our Galaxy” (Nobel Prize in Physics 2020) made by Prof. R. Genzel and A. Ghez is a confirmation of one of the most important predictions of WUM in 2013: “Macroobjects of the World have cores made up of the discussed DM particles. Other particles, including DM and baryonic matter, form shells surrounding the cores”.

Tracing the 107 K warm–hot intergalactic medium with UV absorption lines

ABSTRACT Today, the majority of the cosmic baryons in the Universe are not observed directly, leading to an issue of ‘missing baryons’ at low redshift. Cosmological hydrodynamical simulations have indicated that a significant portion of them will be converted into the so-called warm–hot intergalactic medium (WHIM), with gas temperature ranging between 105 and 107 K. While the cooler phase of this gas has been observed using O vi and Ne viii absorbers at ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths, the hotter fraction detection relies mostly on observations of O vii and O viii at X-ray wavelengths. Here, we target the forbidden line of [Fe xxi] λ 1354 Å which traces 107 K gas at UV wavelengths, using more than 100 high-spectral resolution ($R\sim 49\, 000$) and high signal to noise VLT/UVES quasar spectra, corresponding to over 600 h of VLT time observations. A stack of these at the position of known Ly α absorbers lead to a 5σ limit of $\log [N\mathrm{([Fe\,{\small XXI}])]\lt }$17.4 (EWrest < 22 mÅ), three orders of magnitude higher than the expected column density of the WHIM $\log [N\mathrm{([Fe\,{\small XXI}])]\lt }$14.5. This work proposes an alternative to X-ray detected 107 K WHIM tracers, by targeting faint lines at UV wavelengths from the ground benefiting from higher instrumental throughput, enhanced spectral resolution, longer exposure times, and increased number of targets. The number of quasar spectra required to reach this theoretical column density with future facilities including 4MOST, ELT/HIRES, MSE, and the Spectroscopic Telescope appears challenging at present. Probing the missing baryons is essential to constrain the accretion and feedback processes that are fundamental to galaxy formation.

Reconstructing the fraction of baryons in the intergalactic medium with fast radio bursts via Gaussian processes

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are a promising new probe for astronomy and cosmology. Thanks to their extragalactic and cosmological origin, FRBs could be used to study the intergalactic medium (IGM) and the cosmic expansion. It is expected that numerous FRBs with identified redshifts will be available in the near future through the identification of their host galaxies or counterparts. DMIGM, the contribution from IGM to the observed dispersion measure (DM) of FRB, carries the key information about IGM and the cosmic expansion history. We can thus study the evolution of the universe by using FRBs with identified redshifts. In the present work, we are interested in the fraction of baryon mass in the IGM, fIGM, which is useful to study the cosmic expansion and the problem of the “ missing baryons ”. We propose to reconstruct the evolution of fIGM as a function of redshift z with FRBs via a completely model-independent method, namely Gaussian processes. Since there is not a large sample of FRBs with identified redshifts, we use simulated FRBs instead. Through various simulations, we show that this methodology works well.

Detection of Missing Baryons in Galaxy Groups with Kinetic Sunyaev–Zel’dovich Effect

Abstract We present the detection of the kinetic Sunyaev–Zel’dovich effect (kSZE) signals from groups of galaxies as a function of halo mass down to using the Planck cosmic microwave background maps and stacking about 40,000 galaxy systems with known positions, halo masses, and peculiar velocities. The signals from groups of different mass are constrained simultaneously to take care of the projection effects of nearby halos. The total kSZE flux within halos estimated implies that the gas fraction in halos is about the universal baryon fraction, even in low-mass halos, indicating that the “missing baryons” are found. Various tests performed show that our results are robust against systematic effects, such as contamination by infrared/radio sources and background variations, beam size effects, and contributions from halo exteriors. Combined with the thermal Sunyaev–Zel’dovich effect, our results indicate that the “missing baryons” associated with galaxy groups are contained in warm-hot media with temperatures between 105 and 106 K.

World-Universe Model Predictions

In 2013, World-Universe Model (WUM) proposed a principally different way to solve the problem of Newtonian Constant of Gravitation measurement precision. WUM revealed a self-consistent set of time-varying values of Primary Cosmological parameters of the World: Gravitation parameter, Hubble’s parameter, Age of the World, Temperature of the Microwave Background Radiation, and the concentration of Intergalactic plasma. Based on the inter-connectivity of these parameters, WUM solved the Missing Baryon problem and predicted the values of the following Cosmological parameters: gravitation G, concentration of Intergalactic plasma, relative energy density of protons in the Medium, and the minimum energy of photons, which were experimentally confirmed in 2015-2018. Between 2013 and 2018, the relative standard uncertainty of G measurements decreased x6. The set of values obtained by WUM was recommended for consideration in CODATA Recommended Values of the Fundamental Physical Constants 2014.

Probing diffuse gas with fast radio bursts

The dispersion measure -- redshift relation of Fast Radio Bursts, $\mathrm{DM}(z)$, has been proposed as a potential new probe of the cosmos, complementary to existing techniques. In practice, however, the effectiveness of this approach depends on a number of factors, including (but not limited to) the intrinsic scatter in the data caused by intervening matter inhomogeneities. Here, we simulate a number of catalogues of mock FRB observations, and use MCMC techniques to forecast constraints, and assess which parameters will likely be best constrained. In all cases we find that any potential improvement in cosmological constraints are limited by the current uncertainty on the the diffuse gas fraction, $f_{\rm d}(z)$. Instead, we find that the precision of current cosmological constraints allows one to constrain $f_{\rm d}(z)$, and possibly its redshift evolution. Combining CMB + BAO + SNe + $H_0$ constraints with just 100 FRBs (with redshifts), we find a typical constraint on the mean diffuse gas fraction of a few percent. A detection of this nature would alleviate the "missing baryon problem", and therefore highlights the value of localisation and spectroscopic followup of future FRB detections.

Evidence for a Massive Warm–Hot Circumgalactic Medium around NGC 3221

Abstract We report a 3.4σ detection of the warm–hot, massive, extended circumgalactic medium (CGM) around an L ⋆ star-forming spiral galaxy NGC 3221, using deep Suzaku observations. The temperature of the gas is 106.1 K, comparable to that of the Milky Way CGM. The spatial extent of the gas is at least 150 kpc. For a β-model of density profile with solar abundance, the central emission measure is EM = (3 ± 1) × 10−5 cm−6 kpc and the central electron density is n eo = (4 ± 1) × 10−4 cm−3, with a slope of β = 0.56. We investigate a range of β values and find that the details of the density profile do not change our results significantly. The mass of the warm–hot gas, assuming a metallicity of Z ⊙, is (16 ± 3) × 1010 M ⊙, which is the most massive baryon component of NGC 3221. The baryon fraction is f b = 0.120 ± 0.036 (statistical) (systematic), consistent with the cosmological mean value, closing the baryon budget of this galaxy. We also investigated the missing metals problem in conjunction with the missing baryons problem and conclude that metals are likely to be preferentially expelled from the galaxy. Ours is the first detection of an extended warm–hot CGM around an external L ⋆ star-forming spiral galaxy, where the CGM likely accounts for the missing galactic baryons.

The Physical Origins of the Identified and Still Missing Components of the Warm–Hot Intergalactic Medium: Insights from Deep Surveys in the Field of Blazar 1ES1553+113

Abstract The relationship between galaxies and the state/chemical enrichment of the warm–hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) expected to dominate the baryon budget at low-z provides sensitive constraints on structure formation and galaxy evolution models. We present a deep redshift survey in the field of 1ES1553+113, a blazar with a unique combination of ultraviolet (UV)+X-ray spectra for surveys of the circumgalactic/intergalactic medium (CGM/IGM). Nicastro et al. reported the detection of two O vii WHIM absorbers at z = 0.4339 and 0.3551 in its spectrum, suggesting that the WHIM is metal rich and sufficient to close the missing baryons problem. Our survey indicates that the blazar is a member of a z = 0.433 group and that the higher-z O vii candidate arises from its intragroup medium. The resulting bias precludes its use in baryon censuses. The z = 0.3551 candidate occurs in an isolated environment 630 kpc from the nearest galaxy (with stellar mass ), which we show is unexpected for the WHIM. Finally, we characterize the galactic environments of broad H i Lyα absorbers (Doppler widths of b = 40–80 km s−1; T ≲ 4 × 105 K) that provide metallicity-independent WHIM probes. On average, broad Lyα absorbers are ≈2× closer to the nearest luminous (L > 0.25L *) galaxy (700 kpc) than narrow (b < 30 km s−1; T ≲ 4 × 105 K) ones (1300 kpc) but ≈2× further than O vi absorbers (350 kpc). These observations suggest that gravitational collapse heats portions of the IGM to form the WHIM, but with feedback that does not enrich the IGM far beyond galaxy/group halos to levels currently observable in UV/X-ray metal lines.

Off the Baryonic Tully–Fisher Relation: A Population of Baryon-dominated Ultra-diffuse Galaxies

Abstract We study the gas kinematics traced by the 21 cm emission of a sample of six H i-rich low surface brightness galaxies classified as ultra-diffuse galaxies (UDGs). Using the 3D kinematic modeling code 3DBarolo we derive robust circular velocities, revealing a startling feature: H i-rich UDGs are clear outliers from the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation, with circular velocities much lower than galaxies with similar baryonic mass. Notably, the baryon fraction of our UDG sample is consistent with the cosmological value: these UDGs are compatible with having no “missing baryons” within their virial radii. Moreover, the gravitational potential provided by the baryons is sufficient to account for the amplitude of the rotation curve out to the outermost measured point, contrary to other galaxies with similar circular velocities. We speculate that any formation scenario for these objects will require very inefficient feedback and a broad diversity in their inner dark matter content.

Cosmological filaments in the light of excursion set of saddle points

ABSTRACT The universe in large scales is structured as a network known as cosmic web. Filaments are one of the structural components of this web, which can be introduced as a novel probe to study the formation and evolution of structures and as a probe to study the cosmological models and to address the missing baryon problem. The aim of this work is to introduce an analytical framework to study the statistics of filaments such as number density of them and also to obtain the length-mass relation. For this objective, we model filaments as collapsed objects which have an extension in one direction, accordingly we use the ellipsoidal collapse to study the evolution of an over-dense region via gravitational instability. We find that the non-linear density of filaments in the epoch of formation is almost mass independent and is in order of ∼30. By introducing filament’s extended condition, we find a fitting function for length-mass relation. For the statistics of filaments, we propose a novel framework named excursion set of saddle points. In this approach, we count the saddle points of the density field Hessian matrix, and relate it to the count of filaments. In addition, we addressed the filament in filament problem with up-crossing approximation.

Fast Radio Bursts: An Extragalactic Enigma

We summarize our understanding of millisecond radio bursts from an extragalactic population of sources. Fast radio bursts (FRBs) occur at an extraordinary rate, thousands per day over the entire sky with radiation energy densities at the source about ten billion times larger than those from Galactic pulsars. We survey FRB phenomenology, source models and host galaxies, coherent radiation models, and the role of plasma propagation effects in burst detection. The FRB field is guaranteed to be exciting: New telescopes will expand the sample from the current ∼80 unique burst sources (and only a few secure localizations and redshifts) to thousands, with burst localizations that enable host-galaxy redshifts emerging directly from interferometric surveys. ▪ FRBs are now established as an extragalactic phenomenon. ▪ Only a few sources are known to repeat. Despite the failure to redetect other FRBs, they are not inconsistent with all being repeaters. ▪ FRB sources may be new, exotic kinds of objects or known types in extreme circumstances. Many inventive models exist, ranging from alien spacecraft to cosmic strings, but those concerning compact objects and supermassive black holes have gained the most attention. A rapidly rotating magnetar is a promising explanation for FRB 121102 along with the persistent source associated with it, but alternative source models are not ruled out for it or other FRBs. ▪ FRBs are powerful tracers of circumsource environments, “missing baryons” in the intergalactic medium (IGM), and dark matter. ▪ The relative contributions of host galaxies and the IGM to propagation effects have yet to be disentangled, so dispersion measure distances have large uncertainties.

Peak star formation efficiency and no missing baryons in massive spirals

It is commonly believed that galaxies use, throughout Hubble time, a very small fraction of the baryons associated with their dark matter halos to form stars. This so-called low star formation efficiency f⋆ ≡ M⋆/fbMhalo, where fb ≡ Ωb/Ωc is the cosmological baryon fraction, is expected to reach its peak at nearly L* (at efficiency ≈20%) and decline steeply at lower and higher masses. We have tested this using a sample of nearby star-forming galaxies, from dwarfs (M⋆ ≃ 107 M⊙) to high-mass spirals (M⋆ ≃ 1011 M⊙) with HI rotation curves and 3.6 μm photometry. We fit the observed rotation curves with a Bayesian approach by varying three parameters, stellar mass-to-light ratio Υ⋆, halo concentration c, and mass Mhalo. We found two surprising results: (1) the star formation efficiency is a monotonically increasing function of M⋆ with no sign of a decline at high masses, and (2) the most massive spirals (M⋆ ≃ 1−3 × 1011 M⊙) have f⋆ ≈ 0.3−1, i.e. they have turned nearly all the baryons associated with their halos into stars. These results imply that the most efficient galaxies at forming stars are massive spirals (not L* galaxies); they reach nearly 100% efficiency, and thus once both their cold and hot gas is considered in the baryon budget, they have virtually no missing baryons. Moreover, there is no evidence of mass quenching of the star formation occurring in galaxies up to halo masses of a few × 1012 M⊙.

Stable temperature regulation for TES testing below 200mK employing improved Cohen-Coon method

Transition Edge Sensor (TES) is a promising low-temperature detector technology for high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy. Hot Universe Baryon Surveyor (HUBS) is a satellite concept proposed in China to address so-called “missing baryon problem”, which has serious implications on the formation and evolution of galaxies. At the heart of HUBS is a soft X Ray spectrometer based on TES operating below 100 mK. In the developing phase, the characterization of TES requires high accuracy and stable temperature regulation. Typically, 10 μK temperature fluctuation would be needed over the temperature range of 50 mK to 200 mK. To achieve this accuracy, we designed and built a cold plate in a dilution refrigerator, which regulates temperature on the cold plate with a PID controller. To improve the stability of temperature regulation, Cohen-Coon method is employed and optimized experimentally. Over the desired temperature range, the temperature of the cold plate can be regulated stably and accurately. At typical transition temperatures of our TES devices, temperature fluctuation is well controlled, e.g., within 8 μK (rms) fluctuation at 100 and 200 mK.

Probing the missing baryons with the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect from filaments

Observations of galaxies and galaxy clusters in the local universe can account for only ∼10% of the total baryon content. Cosmological simulations predict that the “missing baryons” are spread throughout filamentary structures in the cosmic web, forming a low-density gas with temperatures of 105−107 K. We search for this warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) by stacking the Planck Compton y-parameter map of the thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (tSZ) effect for 1 002 334 pairs of CMASS galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We model the contribution from the galaxy halo pairs assuming spherical symmetry, finding a residual tSZ signal at the 2.9σ level from a stacked filament of length 10.5 h−1 Mpc with a Compton parameter magnitude y = (0.6 ± 0.2)×10−8. We consider possible sources of contamination and conclude that bound gas in haloes may contribute only up to 20% of the measured filamentary signal. To estimate the filament gas properties we measure the gravitational lensing signal for the same sample of galaxy pairs; in combination with the tSZ signal, this yields an inferred gas density of ρb = (5.5 ± 2.9) × ρ̄b with a temperature T = (2.7 ± 1.7) × 106 K. This result is consistent with the predicted WHIM properties, and overall the filamentary gas can account for 11 ± 7% of the total baryon content of the Universe. We also see evidence that the gas filament extends beyond the galaxy pair. Averaging over this longer baseline boosts the significance of the tSZ signal and increases the associated baryon content to 28 ± 12% of the global value.

Detection of the Missing Baryons toward the Sightline of H1821+643

Abstract Based on constraints from Big Bang nucleosynthesis and the cosmic microwave background, the baryon content of the high-redshift Universe can be precisely determined. However, at low redshift, about one-third of the baryons remain unaccounted for, which poses the long-standing missing baryon problem. The missing baryons are believed to reside in large-scale filaments in the form of warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM). In this work, we employ a novel stacking approach to explore the hot phases of the WHIM. Specifically, we utilize the 470 ks Chandra LETG data of the luminous quasar, H 1821+643, along with previous measurements of UV absorption line systems and spectroscopic redshift measurements of galaxies toward the quasar’s sightline. We repeatedly blueshift and stack the X-ray spectrum of the quasar corresponding to the redshifts of the 17 absorption line systems. Thus, we obtain a stacked spectrum with 8.0 Ms total exposure, which allows us to probe X-ray absorption lines with unparalleled sensitivity. Based on the stacked data, we detect an O vii absorption line that exhibits a Gaussian line profile and is statistically significant at the 3.3σ level. Since the redshifts of the UV absorption line systems were known a priori, this is the first definitive detection of an X-ray absorption line originating from the WHIM. The equivalent width of the O vii line is (4.1 ± 1.3) mÅ, which corresponds to an O vii column density of . We constrain the absorbing gas to have a density of for a single WHIM filament. We derive for the cosmological mass density of O vii, assuming that all 17 systems contribute equally.