Published in Physics Reports, Volume 541, Issue 2, p. 45-161., 2014.
http://arxiv.org/abs/1402.1456

For a PDF version of the article, click here.

DUSTY STAR-FORMING GALAXIES AT HIGH REDSHIFT

Caitlin M. Casey 1,2, Desika Narayanan 3, Asantha Cooray 1


1 Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697
2 Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai'i, 2680 Woodlawn Dr, Honolulu, HI 96822
3 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Haverford College, 370 Lancaster Avenue, Haverford, PA 19041


Abstract: Far-infrared and submillimeter wavelength surveys have now established the important role of dusty, star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) in the assembly of stellar mass and the evolution of massive galaxies in the Universe. The brightest of these galaxies have infrared luminosities in excess of 1013 L with implied star-formation rates of thousands of solar masses per year. They represent the most intense starbursts in the Universe, yet many are completely optically obscured. Their easy detection at submm wavelengths is due to dust heated by ultraviolet radiation of newly forming stars. When summed up, all of the dusty, star-forming galaxies in the Universe produce an infrared radiation field that has an equal energy density as the direct starlight emission from all galaxies visible at ultraviolet and optical wavelengths. The bulk of this infrared extragalactic background light emanates from galaxies as diverse as gas-rich disks to mergers of intense starbursting galaxies. Major advances in far-infrared instrumentation in recent years, both space-based and ground-based, has led to the detection of nearly a million DSFGs, yet our understanding of the underlying astrophysics that govern the start and end of the dusty starburst phase is still in nascent stage. This review is aimed at summarizing the current status of DSFG studies, focusing especially on the detailed characterization of the best-understood subset (submillimeter galaxies, who were summarized in the last review of this field over a decade ago, Blain et al. 2002), but also the selection and characterization of more recently discovered DSFG populations. We review DSFG population statistics, their physical properties including dust, gas and stellar contents, their environments, and current theoretical models related to the formation and evolution of these galaxies.


Keywords : Galaxies, Cosmology, Galaxy evolution, Galaxy formation, Infrared galaxies


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