Disturbed cold gas in galaxy and structure formation

Disturbed cold gas in galaxy and structure formation | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Disturbed cold gas in galaxy and structure formation Siwei Zou, Rob Simcoe, Patrick Petitjean, Celine Peroux, Jaclyn Champagne, and 16 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5837077/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Cold and cool gas (T ≤ 10 4 K) in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) and its interaction with galaxies remain poorly understood. Simulations predict that cold gas flows into galaxies through cosmic filaments, determining the disk formation and galaxy evolution. The cold gas accretion modes in the CGM and their dependence on dark matter halo mass and redshift remain puzzling. Resolving the kiloparsec-scale kinematics and dynamics of cold gas interacting with the disk, dust, and metals in different environments is particularly lacking at z > 2. Here we report two disturbed cold gas structures traced by ultra-strong MgII absorbers (rest-frame equivalent width Wr > 2 Å) exhibiting high kinematic velocities (> 500 km/s) and their environments at z ~ 4.9 and z ~ 2.6. Observations were conducted with VLT/MUSE, JWST/NIRCam, and ALMA to detect Lyα and nebular emission lines, as well as dust continuum emission in the vicinity of these two absorbing gas structures. We identify two Lyα emitters associated with a strong MgII absorber pair separated by ~1000 km/s at z ~ 4.87. The pair exhibits relative differences in metallicity, dust content, and ionization states, suggesting internal metal and dust exchange within the ultra-large cold gas structure. For the strong MgII absorber at z = 2.5652, we detect a dusty star-forming galaxy at a projected distance of D = 38 kpc. This galaxy exhibits prominent HeI, [SIII], and Paschenγ lines, along with significant dust continuum. It has a star formation rate of ~ 121+/-33 M☉/yr and likely harbors a rotating disk. These findings tentatively suggest that cold gas at high redshifts plays a critical role in driving disk formation and actively participates in the transfer of metals and dust within the overdense regions of the CGM. Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/Early universe Physical sciences/Physics/Astronomy and astrophysics/Galaxies and clusters Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5837077","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":414709488,"identity":"6857d13b-9fc8-48b0-ab61-b2a7080e0885","order_by":0,"name":"Siwei Zou","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZiBOMLDhsW9vALIMLIjVUpAmZ8BzAKRFglirPhw2NpBIALGI0CLfzmP44IHB4cTtks+vbvhRIMHA396dgFeLwWEeY4MEg/TEnbNzym72AB0mcebsBvxamHm3SSQYWCc23M5Ju8ED1GIgkYtfi3wz7/YfCQbMiQ03z6Td/EOMFobDvNuAgexsbHCD/dhtomwxOMz/GeiwNDnJnhy22zIGEjwE/SLffyzx448/Njz87Mef3Xzzx0aOv72XgMMQgMcATBKrHATYH5CiehSMglEwCkYQAACkzUcP3NtBegAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3983-6484","institution":"Chinese Academy of Sciences South America Center for Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Siwei","middleName":"","lastName":"Zou","suffix":""},{"id":414709489,"identity":"9b183cc3-8260-45d9-92f6-6179e0412801","order_by":1,"name":"Rob Simcoe","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rob","middleName":"","lastName":"Simcoe","suffix":""},{"id":414709490,"identity":"bea4b496-818d-4391-878f-aec656a3e3db","order_by":2,"name":"Patrick Petitjean","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Patrick","middleName":"","lastName":"Petitjean","suffix":""},{"id":414709491,"identity":"3006d77c-5542-4860-8ab2-39ba7a313fc0","order_by":3,"name":"Celine Peroux","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4288-599X","institution":"ESO","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Celine","middleName":"","lastName":"Peroux","suffix":""},{"id":414709492,"identity":"66f8e31a-b1bb-4687-b8e2-c8b553f444be","order_by":4,"name":"Jaclyn Champagne","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6184-9097","institution":"University of Arizona","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jaclyn","middleName":"","lastName":"Champagne","suffix":""},{"id":414709493,"identity":"bde76cf2-c1af-4932-a7be-8f17d87bcd4b","order_by":5,"name":"Feige Wang","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7633-431X","institution":"Steward Observatory, University of Arizona","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Feige","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":414709494,"identity":"040117e4-fadd-4edd-b7e2-ba7315ef2cd3","order_by":6,"name":"Jinning Liang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jinning","middleName":"","lastName":"Liang","suffix":""},{"id":414709495,"identity":"f879e2e5-302d-4a92-a8fd-5e432d305774","order_by":7,"name":"Fangzhou Jiang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fangzhou","middleName":"","lastName":"Jiang","suffix":""},{"id":414709496,"identity":"1cc71db2-17c5-4cba-9948-1b9ea5490f73","order_by":8,"name":"Zihao Li","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5951-459X","institution":"University of Copenhagen","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zihao","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":414709497,"identity":"9d29b528-c299-452c-865d-63c3beb36404","order_by":9,"name":"Wen Sun","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3995-4859","institution":"Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wen","middleName":"","lastName":"Sun","suffix":""},{"id":414709498,"identity":"3e64ccf1-f4a6-4dc1-b3b7-7e5fcb9268f8","order_by":10,"name":"Xiaohui Fan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Steward Observatory, University of Arizona","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xiaohui","middleName":"","lastName":"Fan","suffix":""},{"id":414709499,"identity":"71b6547a-b1f5-4699-b79d-4baeb5519719","order_by":11,"name":"Jinyi Yang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"the University of Michigan","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jinyi","middleName":"","lastName":"Yang","suffix":""},{"id":414709500,"identity":"aa62c587-f45b-41da-ac7b-4cc2b4fb0fdb","order_by":12,"name":"Luis Ho","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6947-5846","institution":"Peking University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Luis","middleName":"","lastName":"Ho","suffix":""},{"id":414709501,"identity":"bdf0e475-7dc8-4ef9-af78-246f6d910481","order_by":13,"name":"Xiaojing Lin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tsinghua University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xiaojing","middleName":"","lastName":"Lin","suffix":""},{"id":414709502,"identity":"3f3bb04f-015d-46cf-bf4f-b0a2d3b2292d","order_by":14,"name":"Jianan Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Department of Astronomy, Tsinghua University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jianan","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":414709503,"identity":"b5eba2d2-bcfd-408c-bfa7-2bccd52bb5f2","order_by":15,"name":"Jianwei Lyu","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6221-1829","institution":"University of Arizona","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jianwei","middleName":"","lastName":"Lyu","suffix":""},{"id":414709504,"identity":"a3e99d8c-125f-4a03-850b-cee984751d8d","order_by":16,"name":"Lile Wang","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6540-7042","institution":"Peking University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lile","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":414709505,"identity":"c8bd81fe-4ac9-4409-877a-23ff36745c18","order_by":17,"name":"Weizhe Liu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Steward Observatory, University of Arizona","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Weizhe","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""},{"id":414709506,"identity":"be3158c6-e1d4-4b0f-8a5d-68dcd746739c","order_by":18,"name":"Emanuele Paolo Farina","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6822-2254","institution":"Gemini Observatory/NSF's NOIRLab","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Emanuele","middleName":"Paolo","lastName":"Farina","suffix":""},{"id":414709507,"identity":"dad2fbd8-22f3-42a5-ad46-fa08447feeee","order_by":19,"name":"Xiangyu Jin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Steward Observatory, University of Arizona","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xiangyu","middleName":"","lastName":"Jin","suffix":""},{"id":414709508,"identity":"1590363d-dfb4-468e-ac7d-b7f6461bb1b6","order_by":20,"name":"Cheng Cheng","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Chinese Academy of Sciences South America Center for Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Cheng","middleName":"","lastName":"Cheng","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-01-15 20:30:21","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5837077/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5837077/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":76725976,"identity":"05cb6072-5e9f-45e8-8f40-46d67ca4ab8c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-02-20 05:30:58","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1523560,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"usmgiinatureastronomy.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5837077/v1_covered_c95ba874-206c-48d7-8602-9e234c8b3980.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Disturbed cold gas in galaxy and structure formation","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5837077/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5837077/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eCold and cool gas (T ≤ 10\u003csup\u003e4\u003c/sup\u003e K) in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) and its interaction with galaxies remain poorly understood. Simulations predict that cold gas flows into galaxies through cosmic filaments, determining the disk formation and galaxy evolution. The cold gas accretion modes in the CGM and their dependence on dark matter halo mass and redshift remain puzzling. Resolving the kiloparsec-scale kinematics and dynamics of cold gas interacting with the disk, dust, and metals in different environments is particularly lacking at z \u0026gt; 2. Here we report two disturbed cold gas structures traced by ultra-strong MgII absorbers (rest-frame equivalent width Wr \u0026gt; 2 Å) exhibiting high kinematic velocities (\u0026gt; 500 km/s) and their environments at z ~ 4.9 and z ~ 2.6. Observations were conducted with VLT/MUSE, JWST/NIRCam, and ALMA to detect Lyα and nebular emission lines, as well as dust continuum emission in the vicinity of these two absorbing gas structures. We identify two Lyα emitters associated with a strong MgII absorber pair separated by ~1000 km/s at z ~ 4.87. The pair exhibits relative differences in metallicity, dust content, and ionization states, suggesting internal metal and dust exchange within the ultra-large cold gas structure. For the strong MgII absorber at z = 2.5652, we detect a dusty star-forming galaxy at a projected distance of D = 38 kpc. This galaxy exhibits prominent HeI, [SIII], and Paschenγ lines, along with significant dust continuum. It has a star formation rate of ~ 121+/-33 M☉/yr and likely harbors a rotating disk. These findings tentatively suggest that cold gas at high redshifts plays a critical role in driving disk formation and actively participates in the transfer of metals and dust within the overdense regions of the CGM.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Disturbed cold gas in galaxy and structure formation","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-02-20 05:06:52","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5837077/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-communications","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"NCOMMS","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Communications](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ncomms.nature.com/","title":"Nature Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Communications","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"e22b157b-8831-40ba-93f0-e8f3a51fc69f","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 20th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":44222460,"name":"Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Astronomy and astrophysics/Early universe"},{"id":44222461,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics/Astronomy and astrophysics/Galaxies and clusters"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-02-20T05:06:52+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-02-20 05:06:52","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5837077","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5837077","identity":"rs-5837077","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}