Simulating the carbon footprint of galactic haloes

We compare simulations, including the Illustris simulations, to observations of C IV and C II absorption at z = 2-4. These are the C IV column density distribution function in the column density range 10¹²-10¹⁵ cm^-2, the C IV equivalent width distribution at 0.1-2 Å, and the covering fractions and equivalent widths of C IV1548 Å and C II 1337 Å around damped Lyman α systems (DLAs). In the context of the feedback models that we investigate, all C IV observations favour the use of more energetic wind models, which are better able to enrich the gas surrounding haloes. We propose two ways to achieve this: an increased wind velocity and an increase in wind thermal energy. However, even our most energetic wind models do not produce enough absorbers with C IV equivalent width >0.6 Å, which in our simulations are associated with the most massive haloes. All simulations are in reasonable agreement with the C II covering fraction and equivalent widths around damped Lyman α absorbers, although there is a moderate deficit in one bin 10-100 kpc from the DLA. Finally, we show that the C IV in our simulations is predominantly photoionized.