We present the first results from our survey of intervening and proximate Lyman limit systems (LLSs) at z~2.0-2.5 using the Wide Field Camera 3 on board the Hubble Space Telescope. The quasars in our sample are projected pairs with proper transverse separations R_{perp}_<=150kpc and line-of- sight velocity separations =17.2 at {delta}v<5000km/s compared to single quasars (~6%). These two rates are different at the 5{sigma} level. Moreover, we find that optically thick absorbers are equally shared between foreground and background quasars. Based on these pieces of evidence, we conclude that there is a moderate excess of gas-absorbing Lyman continuum photons in our closely projected quasar pairs compared to single quasars. We argue that this gas arises mostly within large-scale structures or partially neutral regions inside the dark matter halos where these close pairs reside.

Cone search capability for table J/ApJ/860/41/table1 (Full WFC3 quasars)