**Table 3:** Physical parameters of the $z_{\rm abs}~$ = 1.7817, 1.7103 and 1.6838 metal absorbers toward HE 0141-3932 ( $z_{\rm em}~$ = 1.80) derived by the MCI procedure (limits are given at the 1 $\sigma$ level).
	$z_{\rm abs}~$ = 1.7817	$z_{\rm abs}~$ = 1.7103		$z_{\rm abs}~$ = 1.6838
Parameter		subsystem A	subsystem B	subsystem A	subsystem B
(1)^f	(2)	(3)^d	(4)^d	(5)	(6)
U₀	3.1E-3^a	9.0E-3	3.8E-2	$\; \raise0.3ex\hbox{$>$\kern-0.75em\raise-1.1ex\hbox{$\sim$ }}\;\!$ 2.8E-2	1.3E-2^a
$N_{\rm H}$ , cm^-2	4.2E17^a	5.7E18	8.6E17	$\; \raise0.3ex\hbox{$>$\kern-0.75em\raise-1.1ex\hbox{$\sim$ }}\;\!$ 3.2E17	2.5E18
$\sigma_{\rm v}$ , km s^-1	20.8^a	55.0	21.0	19.2	59.0^a
$\sigma_{\rm y}$	0.63^a	0.77	0.62	0.36	0.52^a
$Z_{\rm C}$	3.4E-4^a	1.1E-3	2.1E-3	$\; \raise0.3ex\hbox{$<$\kern-0.75em\raise-1.1ex\hbox{$\sim$ }}\;\!$ 5.2E-4	2.9E-4^a
$Z_{\rm N}$	<1.2E-4	3.1E-4	3.2E-4	$\; \raise0.3ex\hbox{$<$\kern-0.75em\raise-1.1ex\hbox{$\sim$ }}\;\!$ 5.0E-5	2.8E-5^b
$Z_{\rm Mg}$	7.0E-5^b	1.4E-4	$\ldots$	$\ldots$	$\ldots$
$Z_{\rm Al}$	7.0E-6^b	6.2E-6	$\ldots$	$\ldots$	$\ldots$
$Z_{\rm Si}$	4.3E-5^a	7.4E-5	3.0E-4	$\; \raise0.3ex\hbox{$<$\kern-0.75em\raise-1.1ex\hbox{$\sim$ }}\;\!$ 8.5E-5	4.8E-5^a
$Z_{\rm Fe}$	6.0E-5^b	$\sim$ 8.0E-4	$\ldots$	$\ldots$	$\ldots$
$[Z_{\rm C}]$	$0.14\pm0.08$	0.65	0.94	$\; \raise0.3ex\hbox{$<$\kern-0.75em\raise-1.1ex\hbox{$\sim$ }}\;\!0.33$	$0.08\pm0.10$
$[Z_{\rm N}]$	<0.15	0.56	0.58	${\; \raise0.3ex\hbox{$<$\kern-0.75em\raise-1.1ex\hbox{$\sim$ }}\;\!}{-}0.3$	$-0.48\pm0.15$
$[Z_{\rm Mg}]$	$0.30\pm0.10$	0.6	$\ldots$	$\ldots$	$\ldots$
$[Z_{\rm Al}]$	$0.30\pm0.10$	0.3	$\ldots$	$\ldots$	$\ldots$
$[Z_{\rm Si}]$	$0.09\pm0.08$	0.33	0.94	$\; \raise0.3ex\hbox{$<$\kern-0.75em\raise-1.1ex\hbox{$\sim$ }}\;\!$ 0.4	$0.14\pm0.10$
$[Z_{\rm Fe}]$	$0.30\pm0.15$	$\sim$ 1.5	$\ldots$	$\ldots$	$\ldots$
N(H I), cm^-2	$(2.6\pm0.5)$ E15	1.0E16^e	$(2.6\pm0.5)$ E14	$(1.1\pm0.2)$ E14	2.5E15^e
N(C II), cm^-2	$(1.64\pm0.08)$ E13	$(1.5\pm0.2)$ E14	$\; \raise0.3ex\hbox{$<$\kern-0.75em\raise-1.1ex\hbox{$\sim$ }}\;\!$ 1.0E12	$\; \raise0.3ex\hbox{$<$\kern-0.75em\raise-1.1ex\hbox{$\sim$ }}\;\!$ 1.6E11	$(7.3\pm1.5)$ E12
N(C II $^\ast$ ), cm^-2	<5.0E11	<4.3E12	$\ldots$	$\ldots$	<1.5E12
N(Mg II), cm^-2	$(1.20\pm0.20)$ E11	$(5.3\pm1.5)$ E12	$\ldots$	$\ldots$	$\ldots$
N(Si II), cm^-2	$(2.8\pm0.3)$ E12	$(1.2\pm0.1)$ E13	$\ldots$	$\ldots$	$\ldots$
N(Si II $^\ast$ ), cm^-2	<1.3E11	<2.0E11	$\ldots$	$\ldots$	$\ldots$
N(Fe II), cm^-2	$(1.4\pm0.4)$ E11	$(5.5\pm2.0)$ E11	$\ldots$	$\ldots$	$\ldots$
N(Al III), cm^-2	$(3.6\pm1.0)$ E11	$(1.4\pm0.3)$ E12	$\ldots$	$\ldots$	$\ldots$
N(Si III), cm^-2	7.5E12^c	$(5.5\pm0.6)$ E13	$(2.3\pm1.2)$ E11	$\; \raise0.3ex\hbox{$<$\kern-0.75em\raise-1.1ex\hbox{$\sim$ }}\;\!$ 8.5E10	$(7.9\pm0.8)$ E12
N(C IV), cm^-2	$(2.2\pm0.2)$ E13	$(1.7\pm0.2)$ E15	$(3.4\pm0.3)$ E14	$(3.4\pm0.2)$ E13	$(2.3\pm0.1)$ E14
N(Si IV), cm^-2	$(4.5\pm0.4)$ E12	$(7.7\pm0.8)$ E13	$(1.6\pm0.5)$ E12	<3.0E11	$(1.2\pm0.1)$ E13
N(N V), cm^-2	<1.4E12	$(1.8\pm0.2)$ E14	$(7.7\pm0.8)$ E13	$(4.5\pm0.5)$ E12	$(1.3\pm0.1)$ E13
$\langle T \rangle$ , K	0.8E4	1.2E4	1.3E4	1.8E4	1.6E4

^a,b Uncertainties: ^a ${\sim} 15{-}20\%$ , and ^b $\sim$ 30%.
^c The value of N(Si III) is calculated on base of other lines.
^d Physical parameters ( $U_0, N_{\rm H}, \sigma_{\rm v}, \sigma_{\rm y}$ and metallicities) are only illustrative since estimated
for the photoionization equilibrium whereas the absorption system is in non-equilibrium.
^e Estimated under the assumption of constant metallicity inside the absorber.
^f $Z_{\rm X} = N_{\rm X}/N_{\rm H}$ ; $[Z_{\rm X}] = \log (N_{\rm X}/N_{\rm H}) - \log (N_{\rm X}/N_{\rm H})_\odot$ .

Source LaTeX | All tables | In the text

	1 Introduction
	2 Observations
	3 The emission line spectrum
	4 The absorption systems
	5 Discussion and conclusions
	References
	Online Material
	Appendix A: Evaluation of the spectral shape of the local UV background