Draft version September 27, 2019

Typeset using LATEX twocolumn style in AASTeX63

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
Sean D. Johnson,1, 2, ∗ John S. Mulchaey,2 Hsiao-Wen Chen,3 Nastasha A. Wijers,4 Thomas Connor,2
Sowgat Muzahid,4 Joop Schaye,4 Renyue Cen,1 Scott G. Carlsten,1 Jane Charlton,5 Maria R. Drout,6, 2
Andy D. Goulding,1 Terese T. Hansen,7 Gregory L. Walth,2
1 Department of Astrophysical Sciences, 4 Ivy Lane, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
arXiv:1909.11667v1 [astro-ph.GA] 25 Sep 2019

2 The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101, USA
3 Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, The University of Chicago, 5640 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
4 Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, PO Box 9513, NL-2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands
5 Dept. of Astronomy & Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Lab, University Park, PA 16802, USA
6 Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 50 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S, 3H4 Canada
7 Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University, College

Station, TX 77843-4242, USA

(Received XX XX, 2019; Revised XX XX, 2019; Accepted XX)

Submitted to ApJL

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 UV+X-ray spectra for surveys of the circum-
/intergalactic medium (CGM/IGM). Nicastro et al. (2018) 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 log M∗ /M ≈ 9.7) 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) which 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.

Keywords: intergalactic medium – quasars: absorption lines – BL Lacertae objects: 1ES 1553+113

1. INTRODUCTION 1999). The predicted physical state and enrichment levels

Cosmological simulations predict that gravitational of the WHIM depend sensitively on stellar and black hole
shocks associated with structure formation will heat a feedback which provide additional heating and chemical
large fraction of the cool (T ≈ 104 K) intergalactic enrichment (e.g. Rahmati et al. 2016; Nelson et al. 2018;
medium (IGM) that dominates the baryon budget in the Wijers et al. 2019). Observations of the WHIM and its
early Universe to form a Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium relationship to galaxies can, therefore, serve as a check
(WHIM; T ≈ 105 − 107 K) at z . 1 (e.g. Cen & Ostriker of our cosmological paradigm and as a laboratory for
studying galaxy evolution.
While observationally elusive, the WHIM can be de-
Corresponding author: Sean D. Johnson tected via absorption spectroscopy through ionic transi-
sdj@astro.princeton.edu tions in the UV and X-ray as well as through metallicity
∗
independent probes such as broad H I Lyα absorption
Hubble & Carnegie-Princeton fellow
 2

(e.g. Danforth et al. 2010), the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (SZ) troscopy. In Section 3, we combine these datasets to infer
effect (e.g. de Graaff et al. 2019), and the dispersion the blazar redshift. In Section 4, we characterize the
measure of fast radio bursts (FRBs; e.g. Bannister et al. galactic environments of the candidate WHIM absorbers
2019; Ravi et al. 2019). Surveys of the highly ionized and draw insights into their origins.
phases of the CGM/IGM traced by O VI (e.g. Danforth We adopt a flat Λ cosmology with Ωm = 0.3, ΩΛ = 0.7,
et al. 2016), Ne VIII (e.g. Pachat et al. 2017; Frank et al. and H0 = 70 km s−1 Mpc−1 . All magnitudes are in the
2018), and Mg X (Qu & Bregman 2016) with the Cos- AB system. We define the knee in the galaxy luminosity
mic Origins Spectrograph (Green et al. 2012) on the function, L∗ , as Mr = −21.5 (Loveday et al. 2012).
Hubble Space Telescope (HST) can account for a large
fraction of the baryons expected in the WHIM but leave
2. OBSERVATIONS AND DATA
∼ 30% missing (e.g. Shull et al. 2012) and potentially in
a chemically pristine or more highly ionized phase. 2.1. Galaxy survey data
Surveys of CGM/IGM around galaxies find that metal To study the relationship between galaxies and the
ion absorption is common in the CGM at projected dis- IGM, we conducted a deep and highly complete redshift
tances (d) less than the estimated galaxy host halo virial survey targeting galaxies of mr < 23.5 mag in the field
radii (Rh ) but comparatively rare at larger distances (e.g. of 1ES 1553+113 with multi-slit spectrographs on the
Liang & Chen 2014; Turner et al. 2014; Johnson et al. Magellan Telescopes. We acquired deep g-, r-, and i-
2015, 2017; Burchett et al. 2019). These observations band images with MOSAIC on the Mayall telescope
suggest that feedback may be ineffective at enriching with 1800 sec of exposure in each filter under 100 seeing
the IGM far beyond galaxy halos. Indeed, the statisti- (PI: Johnson; PID: 2015A-0187) and an HST image
cal detection of SZ signal from the filaments between with the ACS+F814W filter and 1200 sec of exposure
massive galaxies (de Graaff et al. 2019) can potentially (PI: Mulchaey; PID: 13024). We processed the data as
account for the remaining missing baryons, suggesting described in Chen & Mulchaey (2009) and Johnson et al.
that a substantial portion of the WHIM exhibits low (2015). In total, we measured spectroscopic redshifts
1
metallicities (< 10 solar; Liang & Chen 2014; Johnson for 921 galaxies at angular distances of ∆θ < 140 from
et al. 2015) or high temperatures (T > 6 × 105 K) not the blazar sightline and also include 25 redshifts from
traced in the UV. Prochaska et al. (2011) and one from Keeney et al. (2018).
New insights into chemical enrichment mechanisms Redshift histograms and completeness levels for galaxies
and the physical state of the CGM/IGM require deep of L & 0.25L∗ (> 90% at projected distances of d < 500
galaxy surveys in fields with UV and X-ray absorption kpc and z < 0.5) are shown in Figure 1.
spectra. Blazars are ideal for such studies because of The survey results are summarized in Table 1 which
their high UV/X-ray flux levels. Recently, Nicastro et al. reports coordinates, apparent magnitudes (mg , mr , mi ),
(2018) obtained a 1.7 Msec XMM-Newton X-ray spec- redshift quality (“g” for secure redshifts and “s” for
trum of the blazar 1ES 1553+113, reaching the S/N levels single-line redshifts), redshift (zgal ), rest-frame Mg − Mr
required to detect hot CGM/IGM absorbers individu- color, absolute rest-frame r-band magnitude (Mr ), stellar
ally over a large redshift pathlength for the first time. mass (log M∗ /M ), and projected angular & physical
The X-ray spectrum revealed two candidate O VII ab- separations from the blazar sightline (∆θ & d). The
sorption systems at z = 0.4339 and 0.3551, each with absolute magnitudes include k-corrections, and the stellar
statistical significance of ≈ 3 − 4σ, though we note that masses are estimated as in Johnson et al. (2015) assuming
systematic/non-Gaussian errors (e.g. Nevalainen et al. a Chabrier (2003) IMF. Typical uncertainties in the
2019) and contamination (e.g. Nicastro et al. 2016) have redshifts, magnitudes, and stellar masses are 60 km s−1 ,
led to past controversies over X-ray absorbers. Neverthe- 0.1 mags, and 0.2 dex respectively. Table 1 is separated
less, taken together, the two O VII absorbers reported into sections by redshift within ±1000 km s−1 of the
by Nicastro et al. (2018) suggest that the hot phase of two candidate O VII absorbers (z = 0.4291 − 0.4387;
the CGM/IGM is metal-rich and accounts for 10 − 70% 0.3506 − 0.3596), those at higher redshift (z > 0.4387),
of the baryon budget. However, the combination of and all other redshifts. Figure 2 displays an image of the
a poorly constrained blazar redshift (due to a feature- field with galaxy redshifts labeled.
less spectrum) and limited complementary galaxy sur-
veys complicates the interpretation of absorbers toward
1ES 1553+113. 2.2. UV absorption spectroscopy
Here, we present a deep and highly complete galaxy The COS GTO team acquired G130M+G160M spectra
redshift survey in the field of 1ES 1553+113. When com- of 1ES 1553+113 (PI: Green; PID: 11520, 12025) which
bined with UV absorption spectra, the survey enables a are useful for inferring the redshift of the blazar based
precise measurement of the redshift of 1ES 1553+113 on the presence/absence of Lyα forest absorption. We
and provides insights into the origins of intervening retrieved all available COS spectra for 1ES 1553+113
IGM/CGM systems. The letter proceeds as follows: from the HST archive and combined them into a single
In Section 2, we describe the galaxy survey and UV spec- coadded spectrum as described in Johnson et al. (2013).
 3

Table 1. Redshift survey summary with galaxies separated by redshift. The full table is available on the journal webpage.

R.A. Decl. mg mr mi quality zgal Mg − Mr Mr log M∗ /M ∆θ d

(J2000) (J2000) (AB) (AB) (AB) (AB) (AB) (arcsec) (pkpc)
zgal > 0.4387
15:55:44.20 +11:11:04.6 23.1 22.1 21.4 g 0.5721 0.4 −21.3 10.3 26.1 170
15:55:43.91 +11:11:54.4 22.9 21.6 20.8 g 0.5963 0.5 −21.9 10.7 32.7 218
15:55:45.22 +11:11:20.7 23.3 21.9 21.1 g 0.6626 0.4 −22.2 10.6 32.3 226
15:55:45.38 +11:11:09.9 23.6 23.1 22.9 s 1.1130 0.2 −22.5 10.3 37.2 305
15:55:42.08 +11:10:32.1 23.1 22.2 22.0 g 0.5244 0.2 −20.2 9.4 54.1 338
15:55:44.62 +11:12:05.5 23.7 23.2 22.8 g 0.7753 0.2 −20.4 9.5 47.3 351
15:55:40.28 +11:10:55.3 23.9 23.1 22.3 g 0.8778 0.4 −21.9 10.5 49.9 386
15:55:47.24 +11:11:11.6 23.7 23.1 22.3 g 0.7270 0.2 −20.8 9.7 63.0 457
15:55:37.80 +11:11:43.4 23.0 21.4 20.9 g 0.4695 0.4 −21.2 10.3 79.5 469
15:55:38.87 +11:11:54.8 22.5 21.6 21.1 g 0.6935 0.2 −21.9 10.1 68.5 488
15:55:37.26 +11:11:23.9 23.2 21.5 20.9 g 0.4699 0.5 −21.3 10.5 85.2 503
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
. . . . . . . . . . .
zgal = 0.4291 − 0.4387
15:55:43.51 +11:11:13.0 23.9 22.7 22.5 g 0.4300 0.5 −20.8 10.2 13.2 74
15:55:43.19 +11:11:02.8 23.6 22.2 21.5 g 0.4347 0.6 −20.5 10.3 21.6 122
15:55:41.45 +11:11:29.1 25.4 23.3 22.9 s 0.4297 0.4 −19.1 9.5 23.9 134
15:55:42.76 +11:11:56.4 24.9 23.1 22.6 g 0.4344 0.7 −19.6 9.9 32.3 183
15:55:43.95 +11:11:56.7 21.4 19.6 18.9 g 0.4343 0.8 −23.2 11.4 35.0 198
15:55:42.94 +11:10:47.6 23.6 22.1 21.5 g 0.4329 0.6 −20.4 10.2 36.8 207
15:55:39.87 +11:11:46.8 24.3 23.3 23.4 g 0.4347 0.0 −18.5 8.7 51.9 293
15:55:46.15 +11:10:54.1 22.5 21.1 20.6 g 0.4328 0.5 −21.3 10.5 54.8 308
15:55:46.69 +11:11:07.7 23.1 22.3 22.2 g 0.4332 0.0 −19.5 9.1 56.1 316
15:55:47.25 +11:11:16.0 22.3 20.6 20.0 g 0.4328 0.7 −22.1 11.0 62.4 351
15:55:42.66 +11:12:29.8 23.4 22.1 21.9 g 0.4335 0.3 −20.0 9.6 65.7 370
15:55:42.53 +11:12:30.2 24.5 22.8 22.4 g 0.4339 0.5 −19.7 9.8 66.3 374
15:55:37.79 +11:10:51.4 24.3 23.0 22.8 g 0.4344 0.3 −19.2 9.3 84.0 474
15:55:44.56 +11:09:57.9 24.4 23.0 22.7 g 0.4327 0.4 −19.5 9.5 89.3 503
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
. . . . . . . . . . . .
zgal = 0.3506 − 0.3596
15:55:44.49 +11:09:19.3 22.8 21.7 21.4 g 0.3531 0.4 −19.9 9.7 126.8 630
15:56:02.12 +11:12:44.1 22.7 21.6 21.3 g 0.3537 0.4 −20.0 9.8 291.8 1451
15:55:29.10 +11:05:37.7 24.3 23.3 23.2 g 0.3547 0.1 −18.3 8.6 402.8 2007
15:55:47.81 +11:04:41.8 22.8 21.9 21.6 g 0.3596 0.4 −19.8 9.6 408.6 2054
15:55:41.14 +11:03:51.8 21.2 19.5 18.8 g 0.3580 0.8 −22.7 11.2 453.4 2273
15:56:13.90 +11:09:06.0 24.1 23.3 23.4 g 0.3590 0.0 −18.1 8.5 474.8 2384
15:55:24.61 +11:18:04.5 22.2 20.7 20.3 g 0.3538 0.6 −21.1 10.4 483.4 2405
15:55:12.93 +11:17:48.8 21.9 20.9 20.6 g 0.3542 0.4 −20.7 10.0 586.6 2920
15:55:52.15 +11:21:42.4 20.6 19.4 18.9 g 0.3531 0.6 −22.5 11.0 632.4 3142
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Other redshifts
15:55:07.77 +11:01:42.3 21.1 19.8 19.3 g 0.0017 1.2 −9.6 5.8 780.0 28
15:55:46.11 +11:11:49.4 23.5 22.9 22.8 g 0.1022 0.3 −15.6 7.8 51.6 97
15:55:44.01 +11:11:09.1 23.1 22.6 22.3 g 0.3892 0.3 −19.2 9.3 20.8 110
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
. . . . . . . . . . . .
4

60
100
d < 250 pkpc
d < 500 pkpc 50
Completeness for L > 0.25L∗ [%]

d < 1000 pkpc

80
40
60
All galaxies (∆θ < 140 )

Ngal
L > 0.25L∗ (∆θ < 140 ) 30

40
20

20 10

0 0
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
zgal

Figure 1. Left axis: Redshift completeness for galaxies of L > 0.25L∗ versus redshift at projected distances of d < 250, 500, and
1000 pkpc (top curves). Right axis: Redshift histograms with the full survey (∆θ < 140 from the blazar) in black and galaxies of
L > 0.25L∗ in red. The redshifts of O VII candidates at z = 0.3551 and 0.4339 are shown in orange dashed lines.
 5

Figure 2. Image of the field of 1ES 1553+113 with galaxy redshifts labeled. The HST ACS+F814W image is shown in heat
map while the outer regions not covered by the ACS are filled in with the MOSAIC i-band image shown in grey-scale. The
galaxy labels are colored by redshift in black (z > 0.4387), red (z = 0.4291 − 0.4387), orange (z = 0.3506 − 0.3596), and blue
(all other galaxies). The z = 0.4291 − 0.4387 and z = 0.3506 − 0.3596 redshift intervals correspond to ±1000 km s−1 velocity
intervals around the candidate O VII absorber redshifts. The blue contours from the FIRST (Becker et al. 1995) survey reveal a
radio lobe. Dotted circles with radii of 0.50 , 1.00 , 1.50 , and 2.00 are shown for scale (170, 340, 510, 680 pkpc at z = 0.433).
 6

3. DISCOVERY AND REDSHIFT OF THE GROUP sponds to a maximum redshift of zLyα = 0.478. In this
HOSTING 1ES 1553+113 wavelength range, the S/N is sufficient to detect ab-
Optical−X-ray spectra of 1ES 1553+113 exhibit no de- sorbers of Wr > 0.03 Å at 3σ significance. The spectrum
tected emission lines, preventing systemic redshift mea- reveals 7 Lyα absorbers at z = 0.350 − 0.413 imply-
surements (Landoni et al. 2014). The lack of a precise ing zsys & 0.413 but none over the similar interval of
redshift measurement complicates the interpretation of z = 0.413 − 0.478 (bottom left panel of Figure 3).
absorption features in the spectrum of 1ES 1553+113 due To quantify the redshift constraint on 1ES 1553+113
to an inability to differentiate intervening IGM/CGM from the Lyα forest with objects of similar luminosity,
systems from associated absorption. Previous estimates we identified 59 available QSOs with measured systemic
of the redshift of 1ES 1553+113 based on the detection of redshifts, archival COS spectra, and IGM absorption
intervening H I Lyα absorption (e.g. Danforth et al. 2010) line identifications from Danforth et al. (2016). For each
and the shape of its γ-ray spectrum (e.g. Abramowski QSO, we computed the difference between the systemic
et al. 2015) imply 0.413 . zsys . 0.6. redshift and that of the highest redshift H I Lyα line with
Blazars are typically hosted by luminous elliptical Wr > 0.03 Å in the spectrum, ∆z = zsys − max(zLyα ).
galaxies (e.g. Urry et al. 2000) in massive groups (e.g. The resulting ∆z distribution is shown in the bottom
Wurtz et al. 1997). Moreover, 1ES 1553+113 is a high right panel of Figure 3. When combined with the highest
energy peaked blazar which are thought to arise from redshift Lyα line in the spectrum of 1ES 1553+113 at
beamed FR-I radio galaxies (e.g. Rector et al. 2000). z = 0.413 (50 pMpc from z = 0.433 where the UV
1ES 1553+113 exhibits a complex, one-sided radio-jet background dominates), this distribution implies a 95%
morphology (see Figure 2; Rector et al. 2003), indicating confidence interval for the redshift of 1ES 1553+113 of
disturbance by a hot intragroup or intracluster medium. zsys = 0.411 − 0.435, consistent with membership of
Identification of the blazar’s host group therefore repre- the z = 0.433 galaxy group. This constraint assumes
sents a precise means of inferring its redshift (e.g. Rovero that blazars and QSOs reside in similar intergalactic
et al. 2016; Farina et al. 2016). environments and is subject to small number statistics
To identify the host group of 1ES 1553+113, the top in the wings of the distribution. It will be further tested
panel of Figure 3 displays the redshift histogram for with new HST NUV spectra (PI: Muzahid, PID: 15835)
galaxies of L > 0.25L∗ from our survey at d < 500 for improved Lyα searches.
and < 1000 proper kpc (pkpc) from the blazar sightline. 4. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE WHIM
With high completeness levels of 100%, >90%, and >80%
4.1. The origins of candidate WHIM X-ray absorbers
for galaxies of L > 1.0, 0.5, and 0.25 L∗ respectively
at d < 500 pkpc and z < 0.6, our redshift survey is Nicastro et al. (2018) identified two candidate WHIM
sensitive to galaxy groups over the full range of possible O VII absorbers at z = 0.4339 and 0.3551 in the XMM
systemic redshifts for 1ES 1553+113. The only significant spectrum of 1ES 1553+113, suggesting that the hot phase
overdensity with multiple luminous galaxies near the of the IGM is metal-rich and potentially closing the
blazar sightline is at z ≈ 0.433, a strong indication that missing baryon problem. Neither O VII candidate is
the blazar is a member of the z = 0.433 group. detected in O VI, O VIII, or lower ionization metal ions,
The blazar host group consists of 7 (14) members of similar to recent non-detections in an X-ray emitting
L > 0.25L∗ at d < 500 (1000) pkpc from the blazar and cosmic filament (Connor et al. 2019). Here, we discuss
exhibits a light-weighted redshift of zgroup = 0.433. Not the origins of these WHIM candidates based on our
including the blazar host, the total stellar mass (luminos- redshift survey.
ity) of the group is ≈ 8 × 1011 M (18 L∗ ) with ≈ 60% As discussed in Section 3, 1ES 1553+113 is most likely
(50%) coming from three massive, quiescent galaxies a member of a galaxy group at z = 0.433. The identified
of log M∗ /M > 11.0. The measured line-of-sight ve- O VII system at z = 0.4339 is therefore associated with
locity dispersion of the group is σgroup ≈ 300 km s−1 , the blazar environment and cannot be used in cosmic
which corresponds to an estimated dynamical mass of baryon censuses.
Mdyn ∼ 2−5 × 1013 M . Such a massive group is con- The blazar host group is part of a larger scale over-
sistent with expectations for the environment of blazars density consisting of three additional groups at ≈ 1.5
like 1ES 1553+113. Assuming that the luminosity of the pMpc S.E., ≈ 1.5 pMpc N.W., and ≈ 2.5 pMpc E.S.E.
blazar host galaxy is L = 6L∗ (Urry et al. 2000), the from the blazar. The O VII candidate could be due to
group light-weighted center is 1300 E. (70 pkpc) and 700 WHIM from this overdensity, but photoionization from
N. (40 pkpc) of the blazar position. the blazar and UV background would be important. To
The presence/absence of H I Lyα absorption in the evaluate the feasibility of the WHIM interpretation under
blazar spectrum as a function of redshift can be used these circumstances, we ran a series of Cloudy (Ferland
for an independent estimate of the blazar redshift. The et al. 2017) models to calculate the equilibrium O VI,
archival COS spectrum of 1ES 1553+113 enables searches O VII, and O VIII ion fractions as a function of distance
for H I Lyα absorption at λ < 1796.7 Å which corre- from the blazar for gas with nH = 10−5 −10−3 cm−3
and temperatures of T = 105 − 107 K including pho-
 7

10 50
L > 0.25 L⇤ & d < 1000 pkpc zsys, IGM probability distribution
8 L > 0.25 L⇤ & d < 500 pkpc 40

6 30

pdf [%]
Ngal

4 20

2 10

0 0
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
z
zLy↵
0.35 0.36 0.37 0.38 0.39 0.40 0.41 0.42 0.43 0.44 0.45 0.46 0.47 Wr (Ly↵) > 0.03Å
40 Ntot = 59
1.4
H II Ly↵
H I Ly↵

H I Ly↵ !
H I Ly↵ !

H I Ly↵ !

H I Ly↵ !
H I Ly↵ !
H Ly↵

H I Ly

1.2
↵ !
!

30
1.0
Normalized flux

NQSO
0.8
MW Ni II

MW Ni II

20
MW Ni II

0.6
MW C I

0.4
10
MW Al II

0.2

0.0
0
1660 1680 1700 1720 1740 1760 1780 0.05 0.00 0.05 0.10
Wavelength [Å] zsys max(zLy↵ )

Figure 3. Top: Redshift histograms of galaxies with L > 0.25L∗ at d < 1000 (black histogram) and < 500 (red filled histogram)
pkpc from the 1ES 1553+113 sightline. The only massive group in the field with multiple galaxies of L > 0.25L∗ near the blazar
sightline is at z = 0.433, a strong indication that 1ES 1553+113 is a member of this galaxy group. Bottom left: Continuum
normalized COS red-end spectrum of 1ES 1553+113 with flux in black and error in blue. Intervening H I Lyα absorption systems
from the IGM are labeled, and Milky Way features are plotted in grey. The bottom axis shows the observed-frame wavelength
while the top axis shows the corresponding Lyα redshift. Orange dashed lines mark the redshifts of the candidate O VII systems.
Bottom right: Histogram of the redshift difference between QSO systemic redshifts and the highest redshift H I Lyα absorber of
Wr > 0.03 Å cataloged in COS spectra by Danforth et al. (2016), zsys − max(zLyα ). The resulting empirical constraint on the
redshift of 1ES 1553+113 is shown in blue in the top panel (right axis).
toionization from the blazar (λLλ = 1046 erg s−1 at 1 et al. 2019). Denser hot gas of nH = 10−4 (10−3 ) cm−3
Rydberg and UV spectral slope of α = −1.4 based the can reproduce the absorber properties but only at > 10
COS spectrum) and UV background (Khaire & Srianand (1) pMpc from the blazar (see Figure 4). The z =
2019) as shown in Figure 4. 0.4339 O VII candidate is, therefore, unlikely to be due
Nicastro et al. (2018) demonstrated that the O VII to low-density WHIM but may arise from hot CGM or
detection and O VI/O VIII non-detections at z = 0.4339 intragroup medium (Mulchaey et al. 1996) in the blazar
require a gas temperature of T ≈ 106 K with little environment.
contribution from photoionization. This rules out WHIM The z = 0.3551 O VII candidate resides in a com-
gas with nH < 10−4 cm−3 at any distance from the paratively isolated region with no galaxies at d < 500
blazar because photoionization by the UV background pkpc from the sightline within ∆v = ±1000 km s−1 from
is significant at such low densities (see Figure 4; Wijers the absorber redshift despite 100% completeness levels
 8

0 O VIII 2015; McAlpine et al. 2016). We calculated column

O VII
densities within 2000 km s−1 simulation slices and cross-
1 correlated with galaxies as a function stellar mass and
log fion

projected distance. In total, only 1 − 3% of the predicted,

λFλ = 1046 erg s−1 at 1 Rydberg comparably strong O VII (log N (O VII)/cm−2 = 15.6)
2
+UV background systems occur in similarly isolated environments (d > 630
nH = 10−5 cm−3
T = 106 K O VI pkpc to the nearest galaxy of log M∗ /M > 9.7). While
3 the model predictions are subject to non-negligible uncer-
tainties due to treatment of peculiar velocities and feed-
0 back, we nevertheless conclude that strong O VII WHIM
nH = 10−4 cm−3 O VII systems are not expected to be common in isolated envi-
T = 106 K
O VIII ronments. Moreover, Bonamente (2018) estimated a 4%
1
probability that the z = 0.3551 O VII candidate arises
log fion

from noise fluctuations.

2
O VI We conclude that neither of the two candidate O VII ab-
sorbers in the spectrum of 1ES 1553+113 are of confident
3 and unbiased intergalactic origin. This implies a 95%
upper limit on the number of WHIM O VII absorbers
with Wr & 6 mÅ per unit redshift of dN dz < 8. The lack
0 O VII
nH = 10−3 cm−3 of strong WHIM X-ray absorption systems suggests that
T = 106 K metal enrichment is primarily confined to galaxy halos
1 and their immediate outskirts. This is consistent with
O VIII
log fion

the EAGLE simulations which predict that most strong

2 O VII systems arise from metal rich (> 0.5Z ) gas at
O VI
over-densities of δ & 100 (see Wijers et al. 2019). Further
exploration of the relationship between the WHIM and
3
galaxies requires metallicity independent probes.
101 102 103 104 105 4.2. The origins of broad H I Lyα systems
Distance from blazar [pkpc]
While metallicity independent probes of the hot IGM
Figure 4. Metallicity independent equilibrium ion fraction
are not currently available (except via stacking), broad
H I absorbers (b > 40 km s−1 ) can be used to trace metal
of O VI (blue), O VII (red), and O VIII (black) as a function
poor, warm IGM. While temperature measurements are
of distance from the blazar for gas with a temperature of
not possible for most broad H I systems due to lack of
T = 106 K and with a density of nH = 10−5 (top), 10−4
detected metals, Savage et al. (2014) found that 78+7−12 %
(middle), and 10−3 (bottom) cm−3 .
of broad H I absorbers with well aligned O VI detections
exhibit warm-hot temperatures of log T /K = 5 − 6. Dan-
for galaxies of L > 0.1L∗ . The nearest galaxy to the forth et al. (2010) identified 12 broad H I absorbers in
sightline is a star-forming galaxy of log M∗ /M = 9.7 the COS spectrum of 1ES 1553+113 at ∆v < −10, 000
at z = 0.3531 and d = 630 pkpc or ≈ 5× its virial ra- km s−1 from the blazar redshift. None of the broad H I
dius (estimated with the stellar-to-halo mass relation absorbers are coincident with detected galaxies at d < Rh .
from Kravtsov et al. (2018) and virial radius definition However, all are coincident with at least one luminous
from Bryan & Norman (1998)). The nearest massive galaxy of L > 0.25L∗ within ∆v = ±1000 km s−1 with a
galaxy has a stellar mass of log M∗ /M = 11.2 and median projected distance to the closest one of 700 pkpc.
is at d = 2273 pkpc or ≈ 5× its virial radius. The In contrast, narrow (b < 30 km s−1 ; T < 5 × 104 K)
z = 0.3551 candidate could be due to an undetected H I absorption systems detected toward 1ES 1553+113
dwarf in principle, but surveys of the CGM/IGM around are further from luminous galaxies on average with a
dwarfs (Johnson et al. 2017) indicate that metal absorp- median distance to the nearest one of 1300 pkpc while
tion systems are rare beyond the virial radius, and dwarfs O VI absorbers are closer to luminous galaxies (350 pkpc;
are not expected to maintain a hot halo (e.g. Correa et al. Johnson et al. 2013; Pratt et al. 2018).
2018).
To determine whether strong O VII systems are ex- 4.3. Summary and conclusions
pected from the WHIM in isolated environments, we cal- Based on deep and highly complete redshift surveys in
culated the fraction of predicted strong O VII absorbers the field of 1ES 1553+113 we found that:
as a function of environment using WHIM predictions
(Wijers et al. 2019) from the EAGLE cosmological hydro- 1. Neither of the two candidate O VII WHIM systems
dynamical simulations (Schaye et al. 2015; Crain et al. reported toward the sightline (Nicastro et al. 2018)
 9

are of confident and unbiased intergalactic origin. observations highlight the need for a variety of WHIM
The origins, state, and cosmological mass density probes coupled with deep galaxy surveys.
of the hot IGM therefore remain uncertain.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
2. Low metallicity warm IGM traced by broad H I Lyα We are grateful to J. Nevalainen, F. Nicastro, and M.
absorbers occur ≈ 2× further from luminous (L > Petropoulou for insightful comments. SDJ is supported
0.25L∗ ) galaxies than O VI absorbers on average, by a NASA Hubble Fellowship (HST-HF2-51375.001-A).
but 2× closer than cool IGM traced by narrow MRD acknowledges support from the Dunlap Institute
Lyα. at the University of Toronto and the Canadian Institute
for Advanced Research (CIFAR). J.C.C. acknowledges
Our findings are consistent with gravitational collapse
support by the National Science Foundation under Grant
heating portions of the IGM to form the WHIM. However,
No. AST-1517816. Based on observations from the
they also suggest that feedback is ineffective at enriching
Magellan, the NOAO Mayall, and NASA/ESA Hubble
the low-z IGM far beyond galaxy/group halos to levels
Telescopes. The authors are honored to conduct research
currently observable in UV and X-ray metal ions. Indeed,
on Iolkam Duág (Kitt Peak), a mountain with particular
Liang & Chen (2014) and Johnson et al. (2015) placed
significance to the Tohono Oódham. We made use of the
upper limits on the mean metallicity of the IGM of
NASA Astrophysics Data System.
< 0.1Z and pristine (Z < 0.01Z ) gas can be found
even around massive galaxies (Chen et al. 2019). These Facilities: Magellan, HST, Mayall

REFERENCES
Abramowski, A., Aharonian, F., Ait Benkhali, F., et al. de Graaff, A., Cai, Y.-C., Heymans, C., & Peacock, J. A.
2015, ApJ, 802, 65, doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/802/1/65 2019, A&A, 624, A48, doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/201935159
Bannister, K. W., Deller, A. T., Phillips, C., et al. 2019, Farina, E. P., Fumagalli, M., Decarli, R., & Fanidakis, N.
Science, 365, 565. https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.11476 2016, MNRAS, 455, 618, doi: 10.1093/mnras/stv2277
Becker, R. H., White, R. L., & Helfand, D. J. 1995, ApJ, Ferland, G. J., Chatzikos, M., Guzmán, F., et al. 2017,
450, 559, doi: 10.1086/176166 RMxAA, 53, 385. https://arxiv.org/abs/1705.10877
Bonamente, M. 2018, arXiv e-prints. Frank, S., Pieri, M. M., Mathur, S., Danforth, C. W., &
https://arxiv.org/abs/1810.02207 Shull, J. M. 2018, MNRAS, 476, 1356,
Bryan, G. L., & Norman, M. L. 1998, ApJ, 495, 80, doi: 10.1093/mnras/sty294
doi: 10.1086/305262 Green, J. C., Froning, C. S., Osterman, S., et al. 2012, ApJ,
Burchett, J. N., Tripp, T. M., Prochaska, J. X., et al. 2019, 744, 60, doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/744/1/60
ApJL, 877, L20, doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ab1f7f
Johnson, S. D., Chen, H.-W., & Mulchaey, J. S. 2013,
Cen, R., & Ostriker, J. P. 1999, ApJ, 514, 1,
MNRAS, 434, 1765, doi: 10.1093/mnras/stt1137
doi: 10.1086/306949
—. 2015, MNRAS, 449, 3263, doi: 10.1093/mnras/stv553
Chabrier, G. 2003, PASP, 115, 763, doi: 10.1086/376392
Johnson, S. D., Chen, H.-W., Mulchaey, J. S., Schaye, J., &
Chen, H.-W., & Mulchaey, J. S. 2009, ApJ, 701, 1219,
Straka, L. A. 2017, ApJL, 850, L10,
doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/701/2/1219
doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/aa9370
Chen, H.-W., Johnson, S. D., Straka, L. A., et al. 2019,
Keeney, B. A., Stocke, J. T., Pratt, C. T., et al. 2018, ApJS,
MNRAS, 484, 431, doi: 10.1093/mnras/sty3513
237, 11, doi: 10.3847/1538-4365/aac727
Connor, T., Zahedy, F. S., Chen, H.-W., et al. 2019, arXiv
Khaire, V., & Srianand, R. 2019, MNRAS, 484, 4174,
e-prints, arXiv:1909.10518.
https://arxiv.org/abs/1909.10518 doi: 10.1093/mnras/stz174
Correa, C. A., Schaye, J., Wyithe, J. S. B., et al. 2018, Kravtsov, A. V., Vikhlinin, A. A., & Meshcheryakov, A. V.
MNRAS, 473, 538, doi: 10.1093/mnras/stx2332 2018, Astronomy Letters, 44, 8,
Crain, R. A., Schaye, J., Bower, R. G., et al. 2015, MNRAS, doi: 10.1134/S1063773717120015
450, 1937, doi: 10.1093/mnras/stv725 Landoni, M., Falomo, R., Treves, A., & Sbarufatti, B. 2014,
Danforth, C. W., Keeney, B. A., Stocke, J. T., Shull, J. M., A&A, 570, A126, doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/201424232
& Yao, Y. 2010, ApJ, 720, 976, Liang, C. J., & Chen, H.-W. 2014, MNRAS, 445, 2061,
doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/720/1/976 doi: 10.1093/mnras/stu1901
Danforth, C. W., Keeney, B. A., Tilton, E. M., et al. 2016, Loveday, J., Norberg, P., Baldry, I. K., et al. 2012, MNRAS,
ApJ, 817, 111, doi: 10.3847/0004-637X/817/2/111 420, 1239, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.20111.x
10

McAlpine, S., Helly, J. C., Schaller, M., et al. 2016, Ravi, V., Catha, M., D’Addario, L., et al. 2019, Nature, 572,
Astronomy and Computing, 15, 72, 352. https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.01542
doi: 10.1016/j.ascom.2016.02.004 Rector, T. A., Gabuzda, D. C., & Stocke, J. T. 2003, AJ,
Mulchaey, J. S., Mushotzky, R. F., Burstein, D., & Davis, 125, 1060, doi: 10.1086/367802
D. S. 1996, ApJL, 456, L5, doi: 10.1086/309861 Rector, T. A., Stocke, J. T., Perlman, E. S., Morris, S. L., &
Nelson, D., Kauffmann, G., Pillepich, A., et al. 2018, Gioia, I. M. 2000, AJ, 120, 1626, doi: 10.1086/301587
MNRAS, 477, 450, doi: 10.1093/mnras/sty656 Rovero, A. C., Muriel, H., Donzelli, C., & Pichel, A. 2016,
Nevalainen, J., Tempel, E., Ahoranta, J., et al. 2019, A&A, A&A, 589, A92, doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/201527778
621, A88, doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/201833109 Savage, B. D., Kim, T.-S., Wakker, B. P., et al. 2014, ApJS,
Nicastro, F., Senatore, F., Gupta, A., et al. 2016, MNRAS, 212, 8, doi: 10.1088/0067-0049/212/1/8
458, L123, doi: 10.1093/mnrasl/slw022 Schaye, J., Crain, R. A., Bower, R. G., et al. 2015, MNRAS,
Nicastro, F., Kaastra, J., Krongold, Y., et al. 2018, Nature, 446, 521, doi: 10.1093/mnras/stu2058
558, 406, doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0204-1 Shull, J. M., Stevans, M., & Danforth, C. W. 2012, ApJ, 752,
Pachat, S., Narayanan, A., Khaire, V., et al. 2017, MNRAS, 162, doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/752/2/162
471, 792, doi: 10.1093/mnras/stx1435 Turner, M. L., Schaye, J., Steidel, C. C., Rudie, G. C., &
Pratt, C. T., Stocke, J. T., Keeney, B. A., & Danforth, Strom, A. L. 2014, MNRAS, 445, 794,
C. W. 2018, ApJ, 855, 18, doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aaaaac doi: 10.1093/mnras/stu1801
Prochaska, J. X., Weiner, B., Chen, H.-W., Cooksey, K. L., Urry, C. M., Scarpa, R., O’Dowd, M., et al. 2000, ApJ, 532,
816, doi: 10.1086/308616
& Mulchaey, J. S. 2011, ApJS, 193, 28,
Wijers, N. A., Schaye, J., Oppenheimer, B. D., Crain, R. A.,
doi: 10.1088/0067-0049/193/2/28
& Nicastro, F. 2019, MNRAS, 488, 2947.
Qu, Z., & Bregman, J. N. 2016, ApJ, 832, 189,
https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.01057
doi: 10.3847/0004-637X/832/2/189
Wurtz, R., Stocke, J. T., Ellingson, E., & Yee, H. K. C. 1997,
Rahmati, A., Schaye, J., Crain, R. A., et al. 2016, MNRAS,
ApJ, 480, 547, doi: 10.1086/304006
459, 310, doi: 10.1093/mnras/stw453