  We search for OVI absorption in a Keck HIRES spectrum of the z=3.62 quasar
Q1422+231. Comparison of CIV measurements to cosmological simulations shows
that \lya forest absorbers with N_HI > 10^{14.5} have [C/H]~=-2.5, for the UV
background spectrum of Haardt & Madau (HM). Lower column density absorption
arises in lower density gas, where OVI is the most sensitive metal tracer.
Since OVI lines lie at wavelengths contaminated by Lyman series absorption, we
interpret our Q1422 results by comparing to artificial spectra drawn from an
SPH simulation of a Lambda-dominated CDM model. A search for deep, narrow
features in Q1422 yields only a few candidate OVI lines, statistically
consistent with the number in artificial spectra with no metals; spectra
generated with the HM background and [O/H] >= -2.5 predict too many narrow
lines. However, applying the optical depth ratio technique of Songaila (1998),
we DO find significant OVI associated with CIV systems; matching Q1422 requires
[O/C]~=+0.5, implying [O/H]~=-2.0. Taken together these results imply that (a)
the metallicity in the low density IGM is at least a factor of three below that
in the overdense regions where CIV absorption is detectable, and (b) oxygen is
overabundant in these regions, consistent with the enrichment pattern of old
halo stars. If the UV background is heavily truncated above 4 Ry, an
implausibly high oxygen overabundance ([O/C]>+2) is required by the data; thus
a majority of the volume of the universe must have undergone helium
reionization by z=3.(Abridged)

Astrophysics