Multiwavelength Observations of Dusty Star Formation at Low and High Redshift

If high-redshift galaxies resemble rapidly star-forming galaxies in the local universe, most of the luminosity produced by their massive stars will have been absorbed by dust and reradiated as far-infrared photons that cannot be detected with existing facilities. This paper examines what can be learned about high-redshift star formation from the small fraction of high-redshift galaxies' luminosities that is emitted at accessible wavelengths. We first consider the most basic ingredient in the analysis of high-redshift surveys: the estimation of star formation rates for detected galaxies. Standard techniques require an estimate of the bolometric luminosity produced by their massive stars. We review and quantify empirical correlations between bolometric luminosities produced by star formation and the UV, mid-IR, sub-mm, and radio luminosities of galaxies in the local universe. These correlations suggest that observations of high-redshift galaxies at any of these wavelengths should constrain their star formation rates to within ~0.2-0.3 dex. We assemble the limited evidence that high-redshift galaxies obey these locally calibrated correlations. The second part of the paper assesses whether existing surveys have found the galaxies that host the majority of star formation at high redshift even though they directly detect only a small fraction of the luminosities of individual galaxies. We describe the characteristic luminosities and dust obscurations of galaxies at z ~ 0, z ~ 1, and z ~ 3. After discussing the relationship between the high-redshift populations selected in surveys at different wavelengths, we calculate the contribution to the 850 ?m background from each and argue that these known galaxy populations can together have produced the entire observed background. The available data show that a correlation between star formation rate and dust obscuration Lbol,dust/LUV exists at low and high redshift alike. The existence of this correlation plays a central role in the major conclusion of this paper: most star formation at high redshift occurred in galaxies with moderate dust obscurations 1 Lbol,dust/LUV 100 similar to those that host the majority of star formation in the local universe and to those that are detected in UV-selected surveys.

[1]  Piero Madau,et al.  Radiative transfer in a clumpy universe: The colors of high-redshift galaxies , 1995 .

[2]  Cambridge,et al.  ∼ 4 and the Evolution of the Uv Luminosity Density at High Redshift , 2022 .

[3]  J. Graham,et al.  The Redshift of an Extremely Red Object and the Nature of the Very Red Galaxy Population , 1996, astro-ph/9605203.

[4]  D. Clements,et al.  The SCUBA Local Universe Galaxy Survey — I. First measurements of the submillimetre luminosity and dust mass functions , 2000, astro-ph/0002234.

[5]  M. Rowan-Robinson,et al.  Multiwavelength energy distributions of ultraluminous IRAS galaxies - I. Submillimetre and X-ray observations , 1996 .

[6]  Jonathan C. Tan,et al.  A Semiempirical Model of the Infrared Universe , 1999, astro-ph/9904004.

[7]  B. Madore,et al.  The IRAS bright galaxy sample. II - The sample and luminosity function , 1987 .

[8]  Patrick Shopbell,et al.  Caltech Faint Galaxy Redshift Survey. X. A Redshift Survey in the Region of the Hubble Deep Field North , 2000 .

[9]  I. Smail,et al.  A Deep Submillimeter Survey of Lensing Clusters: A New Window on Galaxy Formation and Evolution , 1997, astro-ph/9708135.

[10]  James J. Condon,et al.  Radio Emission from Normal Galaxies , 1992 .

[11]  R. J. Ivison,et al.  The Identification of the Submillimeter Galaxy SMM J00266+1708 , 2000 .

[12]  O. Fèvre,et al.  The Canada-France Redshift Survey: The Luminosity Density and Star Formation History of the Universe to z ~ 1 , 1996, astro-ph/9601050.

[13]  L. Cowie,et al.  Submillimetre-wavelength detection of dusty star-forming galaxies at high redshift , 1998, Nature.

[14]  D. Shupe,et al.  Emission Features and Source Counts of Galaxies in the Mid-Infrared , 1998, astro-ph/9806194.

[15]  C. Bennett,et al.  The Spectrum of the Extragalactic Far-Infrared Background from the COBE FIRAS Observations , 1998, astro-ph/9803021.

[16]  The Nature of Radio Emission from Distant Galaxies: The 1.4 GHz Observations , 1999, astro-ph/9908313.

[17]  G. Helou,et al.  IRAS observations of galaxies in the Virgo cluster area , 1988 .

[18]  D. B. Sanders,et al.  Resolving the Submillimeter Background: The 850 Micron Galaxy Counts , 1999, astro-ph/9904126.

[19]  Jean-Paul Kneib,et al.  Deep Counts of Submillimeter Galaxies , 1998, astro-ph/9812412.

[20]  Ian S. McLean,et al.  Infrared Astronomy with Arrays , 1987 .

[21]  M. Giavalisco,et al.  Infrared Observations of Nebular Emission Lines from Galaxies at z ≃ 3 , 1998, astro-ph/9806219.

[22]  U. Lisenfeld,et al.  Dust and gas in luminous infrared galaxies – results from SCUBA observations , 1999, astro-ph/9907035.

[23]  D. Oakes,et al.  A concordance test for independence in the presence of censoring. , 1982, Biometrics.

[24]  A. Fruchter,et al.  HIGH-REDSHIFT GALAXIES IN THE HUBBLE DEEP FIELD : COLOUR SELECTION AND STAR FORMATION HISTORY TO Z 4 , 1996, astro-ph/9607172.

[25]  M. Pettini,et al.  Lyman Limit Imaging of High Redshift Galaxies. III. New Observations of 4 QSO Fields , 1995 .

[26]  I. Smail,et al.  Observations of a z = 1.44 Dusty, Ultraluminous Galaxy and Implications for Deep Submillimeter Surveys* ** *** , 1999 .

[27]  E. I. Robson,et al.  A submillimetre and millimetre halo in M82 , 1990 .

[28]  A. Kinney,et al.  An atlas of ultraviolet spectra of star-forming galaxies , 1993 .

[29]  B. T. Soifer,et al.  The Near Infrared Camera on the W. M. Keck Telescope , 1994 .

[30]  O. Fèvre,et al.  15 Micron Infrared Space Observatory Observations of the 1415+52 Canada-France Redshift Survey Field: The Cosmic Star Formation Rate as Derived from Deep Ultraviolet, Optical, Mid-Infrared, and Radio Photometry , 1999 .

[31]  D. Rigopoulou,et al.  A Large Mid-Infrared Spectroscopic and Near-Infrared Imaging Survey of Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies: Their Nature and Evolution , 1999, astro-ph/9908300.

[32]  Jean-Paul Kneib,et al.  The diversity of SCUBA-selected galaxies , 2000 .

[33]  M. Rowan-Robinson,et al.  Studies of IRAS sources at high galactic latitudes – II. Results from a redshift survey at b > 60°: distribution in depth, luminosity function, and physical nature of IRAS galaxies , 1986 .

[34]  S. Ridgway,et al.  Two Extremely Red Galaxies , 1994 .

[35]  Hilo,et al.  SCUBA: A Common - user submillimetre camera operating on the James Clerk Maxwell telescope , 1998, astro-ph/9809122.

[36]  Harland W. Epps,et al.  COSMIC: A Multiobject Spectrograph and Direct Imaging Camera for the 5 Meter Hale Telescope Prime Focus , 1998 .

[37]  J. Kneib,et al.  Erratum: The history of star formation in dusty galaxies , 1998, astro-ph/9806062.

[38]  A. Sandage,et al.  The Carnegie atlas of galaxies , 1994 .

[39]  D. Sanders,et al.  LUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXIES , 1996 .

[40]  C. L. Carilli,et al.  The Scatter in the Relationship between Redshift and the Radio-to-Submillimeter Spectral Index , 1999, astro-ph/9910316.

[41]  O. Fèvre,et al.  The Canada-UK Deep Submillimeter Survey: First Submillimeter Images, the Source Counts, and Resolution of the Background , 1998, astro-ph/9808040.

[42]  Donald Hamilton,et al.  Deep imaging of high redshift QSO fields below the Lyman limit. II - Number counts and colors of field galaxies , 1993 .

[43]  R. J. Ivison,et al.  The detection of dust in the central galaxies of distant cooling‐flow clusters , 1999 .

[44]  B. Madore,et al.  Distances to the Galaxies M 81 and NGC 2403 from CCD I-Band Photometry of Cepheids , 1988 .

[45]  N. Trentham,et al.  Ultraluminous infrared galaxies at high redshift: their position on the Madau plot and their fate , 1998, astro-ph/9812081.

[46]  J. Dunlop,et al.  High-redshift star formation in the Hubble Deep Field revealed by a submillimetre-wavelength survey , 1998, Nature.

[47]  B. Soifer,et al.  Molecular gas in luminous infrared galaxies , 1991 .

[48]  D. Calzetti.  Reddening and star formation in starburst galaxies , 1996, astro-ph/9610184.

[49]  Peter A. Shaver,et al.  Clustering at high redshifts. , 1986 .

[50]  Jean-Paul Kneib,et al.  Dust-obscured star formation and AGN fuelling in hierarchical models of galaxy evolution , 1999 .

[51]  Timothy M. Heckman,et al.  Dust Absorption and the Ultraviolet Luminosity Density at z ≈ 3 as Calibrated by Local Starburst Galaxies , 1999, astro-ph/9903054.

[52]  William H. Press,et al.  Numerical recipes in C , 2002 .