HD molecules at high redshift

Abstract

We present the detection of deuterated molecular hydrogen (HD) in the remote Universe in a damped Lyman-α cloud at z_abs=2.418 toward the quasar SDSS J143912.04+111740.5. This is a unique system in which H2 and CO molecules are also detected. The chemical enrichment of this gas derived from Zn ii and S ii is as high as in the Sun. We measure N(HD)/2 N(H_2)=1.5+0.6-0.4 × 10-5, which is significantly higher than the same ratio measured in the Galaxy and close to the primordial D/H ratio estimated from the WMAP constraint on the baryonic matter density (Ω_b). This indicates a low astration factor of deuterium that contrasts with the unusually high chemical enrichment of the gas. This can be interpreted as the consequence of an intense infall of primordial gas onto the associated galaxy. Detection of HD molecules at high-z also opens the possibility of obtaining an independent constraint on the cosmological-time variability of μ, the proton-to-electron mass ratio. Based on observations carried out at the European Southern Observatory, under programme 278.A-5062 with the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph installed at the Very Large Telescope, unit Kueyen, on mount Paranal in Chile.