Collaborative Project: Large Scale Structure at High Redshift.

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How did the universe, which apparently began with an almost perfectly uniformly expanding Big Bang, evolve into the present exceedingly complex and granular structure of galaxies, clusters and superclusters of galaxies, and vast voids? Theories to account for this are best tested by observations of the changing clustering of objects over exceedingly great distances and look back times toward the beginning. Only quasars are bright enough to permit this, but they are too few in number to define the early structure. Far more numerous absorbing objects exist between us and the distant quasars. Using an existing multifiber spectrograph (to be in the second year of the grant) and the McDonald Observatory 2.7 - meter reflector to detect and analyze the redshifts of these absorbing clouds along lines of sight to the quasars, the clustering of large numbers of otherwise undectable high redshift objects can be described, thereby directly studying the evolution of large-scale structure in the universe. The effects of ionizing flux from quasars upon their local neutral hydrogen environment will also be measured, and the incidence will be determined. This is the second part of a two part collaborative project. Dr. Smith has worked for many years in extragalactic studies. Dr. Crotts, the co-investigator, is a leading young instrumentalist.