Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 2005. 43: 861-918
Copyright © 2005 by . All rights reserved

This article is in LEVEL5 at the specific request of the author and is derived from the on-line and publicly available version posted at astro-ph/0509481

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DAMPED Ly SYSTEMS

Arthur M. Wolfe

Department of Physics, and Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California, San Diego, Gilman Dr., La Jolla; CA 92093-0424, awolfe@ucsd.edu

Eric Gawiser

NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Astronomy, Yale University, P.O. Box 208101, New Haven, CT 06520-8108, gawiser@astro.yale.edu

Jason X. Prochaska

University of California Observatories / Lick Observatory, University of California, 333 Interdisciplinary Science Building, Santa Cruz CA 95064, xavier@ucolick.org

Abstract. Observations of damped Ly alpha systems offer a unique window on the neutral-gas reservoirs that gave rise to galaxies at high redshifts. This review focuses on critical properties such as the H I and metal content of the gas and on independent evidence for star formation. Together, these provide an emerging picture of gravitationally bound objects in which accretion of gas from the IGM replenishes gas consumed by star formation. Other properties such as dust content, molecular content, ionized-gas content, gas kinematics, and galaxy identifications are also reviewed. These properties point to a multi-phase ISM in which radiative and hydrodynamic feedback processes are present. Numerical simulations and other types of models used to describe damped Ly alpha systems within the context of galaxy formation are also discussed.

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