Uncloaking the High Redshift Galaxy Population With The Complete Optical and Radio Absorption Line System (CORALS) Survey

Abstract

We present the first results from the Complete Optical and Radio Absorption Line System (CORALS) survey for Damped Lyman Alpha (DLA) systems based on a radio-selected sample of quasars. We find that the number density and neutral gas content of CORALS DLAs is in good agreement with previous surveys. These results indicate that dust obscuration has probably not been responsible for a significant selection bias in the past, although the statistics still permit an underestimate of n(z) and Omega_DLA by up to a factor of about 2.

Submitted to the proceedings of the 17th IAP Colloquium on `Gaseous Matter in Galaxies and Intergalactic Space', 2 pages