Submillimetre-wavelength detection of dusty star-forming galaxies at high redshift

High-redshift star formation in the Atacama large millimetre/submillimetre array era

The Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) is currently in the process of transforming our view of star-forming galaxies in the distant ( z ≳ 1 ) universe. Before ALMA, most of what we knew about dust-obscured star formation in distant galaxies was limited to the brightest submillimetre sources-the so-called submillimetre galaxies (SMGs)-and even the information on those sources was sparse, with resolved (i.e. sub-galactic) observations of the obscured star formation and gas reservoirs typically restricted to the most extreme and/or strongly lensed sources. Starting with the beginning of early science operations in 2011, the last 9 years of ALMA observations have ushered in a new era for studies of high-redshift star formation. With its long baselines, ALMA has allowed observations of distant dust-obscured star formation with angular resolutions comparable to-or even far surpassing-the best current optical telescopes. With its bandwidth and frequency coverage, it has provided an unprecedented look at the associated molecular and atomic gas in these distant galaxies through targeted follow-up and serendipitous detections/blind line scans. Finally, with its leap in sensitivity compared to previous (sub-)millimetre arrays, it has enabled the detection of these powerful dust/gas tracers much further down the luminosity function through both statistical studies of colour/mass-selected galaxy populations and dedicated deep fields. We review the main advances ALMA has helped bring about in our understanding of the dust and gas properties of high-redshift ( z ≳ 1 ) star-forming galaxies during these first 9 years of its science operations, and we highlight the interesting questions that may be answered by ALMA in the years to come.

The gravitationally unstable gas disk of a starburst galaxy 12 billion years ago

Galaxies in the early Universe that are bright at submillimetre wavelengths (submillimetre-bright galaxies) are forming stars at a rate roughly 1,000 times higher than the Milky Way. A large fraction of the new stars form in the central kiloparsec of the galaxy^1-3, a region that is comparable in size to the massive, quiescent galaxies found at the peak of cosmic star-formation history⁴ and the cores of present-day giant elliptical galaxies. The physical and kinematic properties inside these compact starburst cores are poorly understood because probing them at relevant spatial scales requires extremely high angular resolution. Here we report observations with a linear resolution of 550 parsecs of gas and dust in an unlensed, submillimetre-bright galaxy at a redshift of z = 4.3, when the Universe was less than two billion years old. We resolve the spatial and kinematic structure of the molecular gas inside the heavily dust-obscured core and show that the underlying gas disk is clumpy and rotationally supported (that is, its rotation velocity is larger than the velocity dispersion). Our analysis of the molecular gas mass per unit area suggests that the starburst disk is gravitationally unstable, which implies that the self-gravity of the gas is stronger than the differential rotation of the disk and the internal pressure due to stellar-radiation feedback. As a result of the gravitational instability in the disk, the molecular gas would be consumed by star formation on a timescale of 100 million years, which is comparable to gas depletion times in merging starburst galaxies⁵.

Celebrating 30 years of science from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope

The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) has been the world's most successful single-dish telescope at submillimetre wavelengths since it began operations in 1987. From the pioneering days of single-element photometers and mixers, through to the state-of-the-art imaging and spectroscopic cameras, the JCMT has been associated with a number of major scientific discoveries. Famous for the discovery of 'SCUBA' galaxies, which are responsible for a large fraction of the far-infrared background, the JCMT has pushed the sensitivity limits arguably more than any other facility in this most difficult of wavebands in which to observe. Closer to home, the first images of huge discs of cool debris around nearby stars gave us clues to the evolution of planetary systems, further evidence of the importance of studying astrophysics in the submillimetre region. Now approaching the 30th anniversary of the first observations, the telescope continues to carry out unique and innovative science. In this review article, we look back on some of the major scientific highlights from the past 30 years.

The rapid assembly of an elliptical galaxy of 400 billion solar masses at a redshift of 2.3

Stellar archaeology shows that massive elliptical galaxies formed rapidly about ten billion years ago with star-formation rates of above several hundred solar masses per year. Their progenitors are probably the submillimetre bright galaxies at redshifts z greater than 2. Although the mean molecular gas mass (5 × 10(10) solar masses) of the submillimetre bright galaxies can explain the formation of typical elliptical galaxies, it is inadequate to form elliptical galaxies that already have stellar masses above 2 × 10(11) solar masses at z ≈ 2. Here we report multi-wavelength high-resolution observations of a rare merger of two massive submillimetre bright galaxies at z = 2.3. The system is seen to be forming stars at a rate of 2,000 solar masses per year. The star-formation efficiency is an order of magnitude greater than that of normal galaxies, so the gas reservoir will be exhausted and star formation will be quenched in only around 200 million years. At a projected separation of 19 kiloparsecs, the two massive starbursts are about to merge and form a passive elliptical galaxy with a stellar mass of about 4 × 10(11) solar masses. We conclude that gas-rich major galaxy mergers with intense star formation can form the most massive elliptical galaxies by z ≈ 1.5.

Spatial correlation between submillimetre and Lyman-alpha galaxies in the SSA 22 protocluster

Lyman-alpha emitters are thought to be young, low-mass galaxies with ages of approximately 10(8) yr (refs 1, 2). An overdensity of them in one region of the sky (the SSA 22 field) traces out a filamentary structure in the early Universe at a redshift of z approximately 3.1 (equivalent to 15 per cent of the age of the Universe) and is believed to mark a forming protocluster. Galaxies that are bright at (sub)millimetre wavelengths are undergoing violent episodes of star formation, and there is evidence that they are preferentially associated with high-redshift radio galaxies, so the question of whether they are also associated with the most significant large-scale structure growing at high redshift (as outlined by Lyman-alpha emitters) naturally arises. Here we report an imaging survey of 1,100-microm emission in the SSA 22 region. We find an enhancement of submillimetre galaxies near the core of the protocluster, and a large-scale correlation between the submillimetre galaxies and the low-mass Lyman-alpha emitters, suggesting synchronous formation of the two very different types of star-forming galaxy within the same structure at high redshift. These results are in general agreement with our understanding of the formation of cosmic structure.

Over half of the far-infrared background light comes from galaxies at z >or= 1.2

Submillimetre surveys during the past decade have discovered a population of luminous, high-redshift, dusty starburst galaxies. In the redshift range 1 <or= z <or= 4, these massive submillimetre galaxies go through a phase characterized by optically obscured star formation at rates several hundred times that in the local Universe. Half of the starlight from this highly energetic process is absorbed and thermally re-radiated by clouds of dust at temperatures near 30 K with spectral energy distributions peaking at 100 microm in the rest frame. At 1 <or= z <or= 4, the peak is redshifted to wavelengths between 200 and 500 microm. The cumulative effect of these galaxies is to yield extragalactic optical and far-infrared backgrounds with approximately equal energy densities. Since the initial detection of the far-infrared background (FIRB), higher-resolution experiments have sought to decompose this integrated radiation into the contributions from individual galaxies. Here we report the results of an extragalactic survey at 250, 350 and 500 microm. Combining our results at 500 microm with those at 24 microm, we determine that all of the FIRB comes from individual galaxies, with galaxies at z >or= 1.2 accounting for 70% of it. As expected, at the longest wavelengths the signal is dominated by ultraluminous galaxies at z > 1.

High-redshift galaxy populations

We now see many galaxies as they were only 800 million years after the Big Bang, and that limit may soon be exceeded when wide-field infrared detectors are widely available. Multi-wavelength studies show that there was relatively little star formation at very early times and that star formation was at its maximum at about half the age of the Universe. A small number of high-redshift objects have been found by targeting X-ray and radio sources and most recently, gamma-ray bursts. The gamma-ray burst sources may provide a way to reach even higher-redshift galaxies in the future, and to probe the first generation of stars.

Reconstructing galaxy histories from globular clusters

Nearly a century after the true nature of galaxies as distant 'island universes' was established, their origin and evolution remain great unsolved problems of modern astrophysics. One of the most promising ways to investigate galaxy formation is to study the ubiquitous globular star clusters that surround most galaxies. Globular clusters are compact groups of up to a few million stars. They generally formed early in the history of the Universe, but have survived the interactions and mergers that alter substantially their parent galaxies. Recent advances in our understanding of the globular cluster systems of the Milky Way and other galaxies point to a complex picture of galaxy genesis driven by cannibalism, collisions, bursts of star formation and other tumultuous events.

A median redshift of 2.4 for galaxies bright at submillimetre wavelengths

A significant fraction of the energy emitted in the early Universe came from very luminous galaxies that are largely hidden at optical wavelengths (because of interstellar dust grains); this energy now forms part of the cosmic background radiation at wavelengths near 1 mm (ref. 1). Some submillimetre (submm) galaxies have been resolved from the background radiation, but they have been difficult to study because of instrumental limitations. This has impeded the determination of their redshifts (z), which is a crucial element in understanding their nature and evolution. Here we report spectroscopic redshifts for ten submm galaxies that were identified using high-resolution radio observations. The median redshift for our sample is 2.4, with a quartile range of 1.9-2.8. This population therefore coexists with the peak activity of quasars, suggesting a close relationship between the growth of massive black holes and luminous dusty galaxies. The space density of submm galaxies at redshifts over 2 is about 1,000 times greater than that of similarly luminous galaxies in the present-day Universe, so they represent an important component of star formation at high redshifts.

Cramér-Rao sensitivity limits for astronomical instruments: implications for interferometer design

Multiple-telescope interferometry for high-angular-resolution astronomical imaging in the optical-IR-far-IR bands is currently a topic of great scientific interest. The fundamentals that govern the sensitivity of direct-detection instruments and interferometers are reviewed, and the rigorous sensitivity limits imposed by the Cramér-Rao theorem are discussed. Numerical calculations of the Cramér-Rao limit are carried out for a simple example, and the results are used to support the argument that interferometers that have more compact instantaneous beam patterns are more sensitive, since they extract more spatial information from each detected photon. This argument favors arrays with a larger number of telescopes, and it favors all-on-one beam-combining methods as compared with pairwise combination.

Mie and debye scattering in dusty plasmas

We calculate the total field scattered by a charged sphere immersed in a plasma using a unified treatment that includes the usual Mie scattering and the scattering by the Debye cloud around the particle. This is accomplished by use of the Dyadic Green function to determine the field radiated by the electrons of the Debye cloud, which is then obtained as a series of spherical vector wave functions similar to that of the Mie field. Thus we treat the Debye-Mie field as a whole and study its properties. The main results of this study are (1) the Mie (Debye) field dominates at small (large) wavelengths and in the Rayleigh limit the Debye field is constant; (2) the total cross section has an interference term between the Debye and Mie fields, important in some regimes; (3) this term is negative for negative charge of the grain, implying a total cross section smaller than previously thought; (4) a method is proposed to determine the charge of the grain (divided by a certain suppression factor) and the Debye length of the plasma; (5) a correction to the dispersion relation of an electromagnetic wave propagating in a plasma is derived.

Dust Emission from High-Redshift QSOs

We present detections of emission at 250 GHz (1.2 mm) from two high-redshift QSOs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey sample using the bolometer array at the IRAM 30 m telescope. The sources are SDSSp 015048.83+004126.2 at z=3.7 and SDSSp J033829.31+002156.3 at z=5.0; the latter is the third highest redshift QSO known and the highest redshift millimeter-emitting source yet identified. We also present deep radio continuum imaging of these two sources at 1.4 GHz using the Very Large Array. The combination of centimeter and millimeter observations indicate that the 250 GHz emission is most likely thermal dust emission, with implied dust masses approximately 108 M middle dot in circle. We consider possible dust heating mechanisms, including UV emission from the active galactic nucleus (AGN) and a massive starburst concurrent with the AGN, with implied star formation rates greater than 103 M middle dot in circle yr-1.

The Extreme Compact Starburst in Markarian 273

Images of neutral hydrogen 21 cm absorption and radio continuum emission at 1.4 GHz from Mrk 273 were made using the Very Long Baseline Array and Very Large Array. These images reveal a gas disk associated with the northern nuclear region with a diameter 0&farcs;5 (370 pc) at an inclination angle of 53 degrees. The radio continuum emission is composed of a diffuse component plus a number of compact sources. This morphology resembles those of nearby, lower luminosity starburst galaxies. These images provide strong support for the hypothesis that the luminosity of the northern source is dominated by an extreme compact starburst. The H i 21 cm absorption shows an east-west gradient in velocity of 450 km s-1 across 0&farcs;3 (220 pc), which implies an enclosed mass of 2x109 M middle dot in circle, comparable to the molecular gas mass. The brightest of the compact sources may indicate radio emission from an active nucleus, but this source contributes only 3.8% to the total flux density of the northern nuclear regions. The H i 21 cm absorption toward the southeast radio nucleus suggests infall at 200 km s-1 on scales </=40 pc, and the southwest near-IR nucleus is not detected in high-resolution radio continuum images.

Resolving the extragalactic hard X-ray background

The origin of the hard (2-10 keV) X-ray background has been a mystery for over 35 years. Most of the soft X-ray background has been resolved into individual sources (mainly quasars), but these sources do not have the spectral energy distribution required to match the spectrum of the X-ray background as a whole. Here we report the results of a deep survey, using the Chandra satellite, in which the detected hard X-ray sources account for at least 75 per cent of the hard X-ray background. The mean X-ray spectral energy distribution of these sources is in good agreement with that of the background. Moreover, most of those hard X-ray sources are associated unambiguously with either the nuclei of otherwise normal bright galaxies, or with optically faint sources. The latter could be active nuclei in dust-enshrouded galaxies or a population of quasars at extremely high redshift.

Superwind Model of Extended Lyalpha Emitters at High Redshift

We propose a new model for the extended Lyalpha blobs found recently at high redshift (z approximately 3). The observational properties of these blobs are as follows: (1) the observed Lyalpha luminosities are approximately 1043 h-2 ergs s-1, (2) they appear elongated morphologically, (3) their sizes amount to approximately 100 kpc, (4) the observed line widths amount to approximately 1000 km s-1, and (5) they are not associated with strong radio continuum sources. All these observational properties seem to be explained in terms of galactic winds driven by successive supernova explosions shortly after the initial burst of massive star formation in the galactic centers. The observed number density of Lyalpha blobs ( approximately 3.4x10-5 h3 Mpc-3) may be explained if their present-day counterparts are elliptical galaxies with a luminosity above approximately 1L*.

Evidence for Multiple Mergers among Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies: Remnants of Compact Groups?

In a large sample of ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) imaged with the Hubble Space Telescope, we have identified a significant subsample that shows evidence for multiple mergers. The evidence is seen among two classes of ULIRGs: (1) those with multiple remnant nuclei in their core, sometimes accompanied by a complex system of tidal tails, and (2) those that are in fact dense groupings of interacting (soon-to-merge) galaxies. We conservatively estimate that, in the redshift range 0.05<z<0.20, at least 20 (out of 99) ULIRGs satisfy one or both of these criteria. We present several cases and discuss the possibility that the progenitors of ULIRGs may be the more classical, weakly interacting compact groups of galaxies (see Hickson). An evolutionary progression is consistent with the results: from compact groups to pairs to ULIRGs to elliptical galaxies. The last step follows the blowout of gas and dust from the ULIRG.

X-Raying the Star Formation History of the Universe

The current models of early star and galaxy formation are based upon the hierarchical growth of dark matter halos, within which the baryons condense into stars after cooling down from a hot diffuse phase. The latter is replenished by infall of outer gas into the halo potential wells; this includes a fraction previously expelled and preheated because of momentum and energy fed back by the supernovae which follow the star formation. We identify such an implied hot phase with the medium known to radiate powerful X-rays in clusters and in groups of galaxies. We show that the amount of the hot component required by the current star formation models is enough to be observable out to redshifts z approximately 1.5 in forthcoming deep surveys from Chandra and X-Ray Multimirror Mission, especially in case the star formation rate is high at such and earlier redshifts. These X-ray emissions constitute a necessary counterpart and will provide a much-wanted probe of the star formation process itself (in particular, of the supernova feedback) to parallel and complement the currently debated data from optical and IR observations of the young stars.