No. 79 (2005) M.M. Ćirković: QSO ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY AND BARIONIC DARK MATTER [PDF, 2.42MB] This book is an adaptation and upgrade of the doctoral thesis defended in June 2000 at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, State University of New York at Stony Brook (New York, USA). The book should serve a double purpose: first, as an introduction into the host of tightly related topics in astrophysics and cosmology all dealing with the history and evolution of the baryonic matter in the universe. Secondly, it gives argument for still somewhat controversial view that large baryonic reservoirs are present (at least in the low-redshift regime) in form of huge gaseous galactic haloes surrounding normal luminous galaxies, and manifesting through the Lyman-alpha absorption lines in spectra of background sources. If accepted, this view would profoundly impact our understanding of the galactic structure and evolution, and will deeply influence our views of the future evolution of galactic systems.