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| Paper: |
Damped Lyman Alpha Systems in GRB Afterglows: Probing Dense Regions in GRB Host Galaxies |
| Volume: |
344, The Cool Universe: Observing Cosmic Dawn |
| Page: |
79 |
| Authors: |
Vreeswijk, P.; Ellison, S.; Ledoux, C.; Wijers, R.; Hjorth, J. |
| Abstract: |
To date, only a handful of Damped Lyman alpha systems have been detected in GRB afterglows, and most of these have modest signal-to-noise ratios. Our detection of a DLA in the afterglow of GRB030323 is unambiguous: its neutral hydrogen column density is log N(H I)=21.90±0.07, higher than any (GRB or QSO) DLA Hi column density inferred directly from Lyff in absorption. We discuss several other properties, such as the metallicity, the detection of finestructure lines of Si ii, and our strong upper limit on the H2 content. The GRB afterglow allows us to infer all these quantities, even with the host being as faint as V=28. The upcoming launch of the Swift satellite will make high-resolution spectroscopy of a large sample of GRB afterglows possible. This will offer a unique way to study in detail the interstellar medium inside GRB host galaxies as a function of redshift. |
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