| Abstract: | I review here a few important questions that X‐shooter can help tackle and answer in the field of quasar absorption lines. This includes (i) determine the ionizing background and the physical state of the inter‐galactic medium (IGM) by analysing the characteristics of the Lyman‐α forest and the proximity effect; (ii) investigate the metal content of the high redshift IGM; (iii) study the small scale transverse correlation in the IGM by observing pairs of quasars with small separation in the sky; (iv) study the galaxy‐IGM relations by detecting the counterpart of damped Lyman‐α systems (DLAs) or determining the correlation between the properties of galaxies and absorption lines; (v) detect and characterize the long‐sought cold diffuse molecular (H2 and CO) interstellar medium (ISM) of high redshift galaxies and study its dust content (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) |
