Lyman limit systems in cosmological simulations

We used a cosmological simulation with self-consistent radiative transfer to investigate the physical nature of Lyman limit systems at z = 4. In agreement with previous studies, we find that most of the Lyman limit systems are ionized by the cosmological background, while higher column density systems seem to be illuminated by the local sources of radiation. In addition, we find that most of the Lyman limit systems in our simulations are located within the virial radii of galaxies with a wide range of masses and are physically associated with them ("bits and pieces'' of galaxy formation). While the finite resolution of our simulations cannot exclude an existence of a second population of self-shielded, neutral gas clouds located in low-mass dark matter halos ("minihalos''), our simulations are not consistent with minihalos dominating the total abundance of Lyman limit systems.