The archive contains files that give net cooling rates due to various elements as a function of density, temperature, and redshift. Each file is encoded using the HDF5 format (http://hdf.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HDF5/). For a description of the methods used, see Wiersma, R. P. C., Schaye, J., and Smith, B. D. 2009, MNRAS, 393, 99 The gas was exposed to the (redshift-dependent) Haardt & Madau (2001, hereafter HM01) UV/X-ray background from quasars and galaxies and the (redshift-dependent) cosmic microwave background (CMB). The gas was assumed to be optically thin and in ionization equilibrium. The redshift range is identical to that of the HM01 model: z = 0 through z = 8.989. Every file is named for the redshift it represents, with the exception of the following files: -z_8.989nocompton.hdf5: This file contains net cooling rates for the z = 8.989 UV/X-ray background, but without the CMB. Such a table could be used in a pre z=9, but post-reionization universe (one should then add redshift-dependent Compton cooling off the CMB analytically). -z_photodis.hdf5: This file contains net cooling rates computed using a soft, non-ionizing UV background. It was computed for the z = 8.989 HM01 background but with the spectrum cut-off at 1 Ryd. The CMB was not included. This background dissociates molecules, but does not contain H-ionizing radiation. It could for example be used in the pre-reionization universe (one should then add redshift-dependent Compton cooling off the CMB analytically). In addition, we provide the following redshift-independent file: -z_collis.hdf5: This file contains net cooling rates computed assuming collisional ionization equilbrium and no CMB. Note that 'no induced processes' was not used in this table (all other tables were made with this command) since it caused cloudy to crash. Each file contains groups corresponding to the different elements (e.g., "/Carbon"). Hydrogen and helium are considered simultaneously in the group "/Metal_free". The different contributions to the cooling rates can be combined and scaled to the desired abundances as described in WSS08 (eq. 3). All metals (not just the ones we do separately) are considered simultaneously in the group "/Total_Metals". This latter table is useful if the metallicity is known, but not the abundances of individual elements. The metal and H&He contributions to the cooling rates can be combined and scaled to the desired metallicity as described in WSS08 (eq. 4). The group "/Header" contains some useful meta-data and the group "/Solar" considers all elements simultaneously (assuming solar abundances). The tables were prepared using the Haardt and Madau (2001) quasars and galaxies spectrum, and CLOUDY (last described in Ferland et al. 1998) version 07.02. The ranges of the tables are as follows: Temperature: 100 K - 9.1612998e8 K Hydrogen density: 1 cm^-3 - 1e-8 cm^-3 Redshift: 0 - 8.989 Helium mass fraction (Helium number ratio): 0.238 - 0.298 (0.07865282 - 0.10689845) Energy density: 1e10 erg/g - 1e18 erg/g Our website (http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/WSS08/) contains many sample scripts to give an idea as to how to use the tables References: Haardt, F. and Madau, P., 2001, Clusters of galaxies and the high redshift universe observed in X-rays, Recent results of XMM-Newton and Chandra, XXXVIth Rencontres de Moriond , XXIst Moriond Astrophysics Meeting, March 10-17, 2001 Savoie, France. Ferland et al., 1998, PASP, 110, 761 ______________________________________________________________________________ What follows is a item-by-item description of each entry in the table, complete with units. /Header (Group) Contains meta data. /Header/Abundances (Group) Abundances subgroup /Header/Abundances/Abund_names Names of all the elements in the list /Header/Abundances/Solar_abundances and /Header/Abundances/Solar_number_abundances /Header/Abundances/Number_of_abundances Number of entries in /Header/Abundances/Solar_abundances and /Header/Abundances/Solar_number_abundances /Header/Abundances/Solar_mass_fractions Solar abundances used (mass fractions) /Header/Abundances/Solar_number_ratios Solar abundances used (number density relative to hydrogen) /Header/Metal_names Names of the metals for which cooling rates are included (correspond to group names). /Header/Number_of_density_bins Number of density bins /Header/Number_of_helium_fractions Number of helium fraction bins /Header/Number_of_metals Number of metals for which cooling rates are included. /Header/Number_of_temperature_bins Number of temperature bins /Header/Redshift The redshift to which the data in this file corresponds. ----- /Metal_free (Group) Includes only hydrogen and helium /Metal_free/Electron_density_over_n_h Ratio of free electron and hydrogen number densities (n_e/n_H) as a function of /Metal_free/Hydrogen_density_bins, /Metal_free/Temperature_bins, and helium abundance (/Metal_free/Helium_mass_fraction_bins or /Metal_free/Helium_number_ratio_bins) /Metal_free/Helium_mass_fraction_bins Helium mass fraction bins /Metal_free/Helium_number_ratio_bins Ratio of helium and hydrogen number density bins (n_He/n_H) /Metal_free/Hydrogen_density_bins Hydrogen number density bins (n_H [cm^-3]) /Metal_free/Mean_particle_mass Mean particle mass as a function of /Metal_free/Hydrogen_density_bins, /Metal_free/Temperature_bins, and helium abundance (/Metal_free/Helium_mass_fraction_bins or /Metal_free/Helium_number_ratio_bins) (mu [m_H]) /Metal_free/Net_cooling Normalized net cooling rate (pos for cooling, neg for heating) as a function of /Metal_free/Hydrogen_density_bins, /Metal_free/Temperature_bins, and helium abundance (/Metal_free/Helium_mass_fraction_bins or /Metal_free/Helium_number_ratio_bins) (Lambda/n_H^2 [erg s^-1 cm^3]) /Metal_free/Temperature_bins Temperature bins (T [K]) ----- /Metal_free/Temperature (Group) Contains data needed to convert energy per unit mass into temperature /Metal_free/Temperature/Energy_density_bins Internal energy density per unit mass bins [erg g^-1] /Metal_free/Temperature/Helium_mass_fraction_bins Helium mass fraction bins /Metal_free/Temperature/Helium_number_ratio_bins Ratio of helium and hydrogen number density bins (n_He/n_H) /Metal_free/Temperature/Hydrogen_density_bins Hydrogen number density bins (n_H [cm^-3]) /Metal_free/Temperature/Temperature Temperature as a function of /Metal_free/Temperature/Hydrogen_density_bins, /Metal_free/Temperature/Energy_density_bins, and helium abundance (/Metal_free/Temperature/Helium_mass_fraction_bins or /Metal_free/Temperature/Helium_number_ratio_bins) (T [K]) ----- /Total_Metals (Group) Contains contribution to the net cooling due to elements from Li to Zn combined (for solar abundances) /Total_Metals/Hydrogen_density_bins Hydrogen number density bins (n_H [cm^-3]) /Total_Metals/Net_cooling Normalized net cooling rate (pos for cooling, neg for heating) as a function of /Total_Metals/Hydrogen_density_bins and /Total_Metals/Temperature_bins (Lambda/n_H^2 [erg s^-1 cm^3]) /Total_Metals/Temperature_bins Temperature bins (T [K]) ----- /X (Group) Contains contribution to the net cooling due to element X (for solar abundances) /X/Hydrogen_density_bins Hydrogen number density bins (n_H [cm^-3]) /X/Net_cooling Normalized, net cooling rate (pos for cooling, neg for heating) due to element X as a function of /X/Hydrogen_density_bins and /X/Temperature_bins (Lambda/n_H^2 [erg s^-1 cm^3]) /X/Temperature_bins Temperature bins (T [K]) ----- /Solar (Group) All elements - H to Zn - are considered simultaneously (assuming solar abundances) /Solar/Electron_density_over_n_h Ratio of free electron and hydrogen number densities (n_e/n_H) as a function of /Solar/Hydrogen_density_bins and /Solar/Temperature_bins for solar abundances /Solar/Hydrogen_density_bins Hydrogen number density bins (n_H [cm^-3]) /Solar/Mean_particle_mass Mean particle mass as a function of /Solar/Hydrogen_density_bins and /Solar/Temperature_bins for solar abundances (mu [m_H]) /Solar/Net_Cooling Normalized, net cooling rate (pos for cooling, neg for heating) as a function of /Solar/Hydrogen_density_bins and /Solar/Temperature_bins for solar abundances (Lambda/n_H^2 [erg s^-1 cm^3]) /Solar/Temperature_bins Temperature bins (T [K])