The CGM-GRB Study. I. Uncovering The CircumGalactic Medium around GRB
  hosts at redshifts 2-6
  Recent studies have revealed a dynamic interplay between the galaxy ecosystem
and the circumgalactic medium (CGM). We investigate the CGM at high redshifts
(z $\gtrsim$ 2) by using bright afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRB) as
background sources. We compiled a sample of medium-resolution ($\delta$v $<$ 50
km/s) and high signal-to-noise (typical SNR $\sim$ 10) spectra from 27 GRB
afterglows covering z $\sim$ 2 - 6, with six of them at z $\gtrsim$ 4. We
analyzed the high- and low-ionization absorption features within $\pm$400 km/s
to extract the CGM and ISM kinematics. In the stacked spectra, high-ionization
absorption profiles (e.g. C IV, Si IV) present significant absorption excess in
their blue wings (v $<$ -100 km/s) relative to the red wings (v $>$ 100 km/s).
The stronger blue wings in high-ionization species are indicative of the
presence of ubiquitous warm outflows in the GRB hosts at high redshifts. We
used simple toy models to kinematically distinguish the CGM and ISM absorption
and estimate the CGM mass and outflow velocity. We find tentative evidence of
the evolution of the CGM metal mass by $\sim$ 0.5 dex between two redshift
bins, each spanning 1 Gyr, z1: 2-2.7 and z2: 2.7-5. By comparing with past
studies, we find that over the course of evolution of present-day galaxies with
$M_{*} > 10^{10}M_{\odot}$, the ratio of C IV mass in the CGM to the stellar
mass remains fairly uniform, with $log(M_{CIV}/M_{*}) \sim -4.5$ within
$\pm$0.5 dex from z $\sim$ 4 to z $\sim$ 0, suggesting CGM-galaxy co-evolution.
