A time history diagnostic plot showing the evolution of oxygen states (top panel) for the photo-ionisation non-equilibrium (PINe isochoric) case starting at T=106 K at t=0 for nH=10-4 cm-3, solar enriched gas under a z=1 Haardt & Madau (2001) background. The middle panel shows timescales including the recombination timescales of various oxygen ions (in colour), the cooling timescale, and the dynamical timescale. The bottom shows the temperature history. While cooling times are greater than the isochoric case owing to "PdV" work, the movement to higher densities causes the cooling to rapidly progress. The final density the gas reaches at the equilibrium point is nH=10-1.8 cm-3. This figure is meant to be compared and contrasted with the previous four figures here on the website.
Back to Main Page