Program: GN-2012B-Q-34

We propose to carry out a systematic search for reliable detections of star formation activity associated with coincident, multiple HI gas in spectra of gravitationally lensed quasars at high redshift with Gemini telescope. By measuring the spatial distributions of HI gas and associated metals, we aim to establish a comprehensive picture for understanding how the circumgalactic media affect the formation and/or evolution of primordial galaxies. We are going to use the NIFS whose sensitive wavelengths correspond to the redshifted H-alpha emission lines of host galaxies at z>2. The glare of background quasars often prevents from searching for the emission lines from host galaxies in the proximity to HI absorbers. The high resolution imaging with LGS-AO enables us to approach very close to the HI gas at small impact parameter. The combination of high-performance LGS-AO + NIFS + gravitationally lensing is the most promising way to search for emissions associated with multiple HI gas in the circumgalactic media.