Catálogo de publicaciones - libros

Using accurate positions from very deep radio observations to guide multi-object Keck spectroscopy, we have determined a substantially complete redshift distribution for very luminous, distant submillimetre(submm)-selected galaxies (SMGs). A sample of 75 redshifts for SMGs in 7 fields contains a surprisingly large number of ‘associations’: galaxies with redshifts within 1200 km s. This small sample provides tentative evidence of strong clustering at ≃ 2–3 with a correlation length of 7.8 ± 2.6 Mpc, using a simple pair-counting approach that is appropriate to the small, sparse SMG samples. The large correlation length could either indicate that SMGs trace the densest large-scale structures in the high-redshift Universe, and are evolutionarily distinct from optical-color-selected ≃ 3 Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) and QSOs, or that they are subject to a complex bias.

Blank field surveys with SCUBA and MAMBO revealed a population of (sub)mm background galaxies which are massive, ~ 10 starbursts at median redshifts of ~ 2.5. Due to a radio-selection bias, for one third of the SCUBA/MAMBO sources a clear optical identification or redshift estimate has not yet been possible, but it is likely that these sources lie at redshifts >3. We find evidence for a different population dominating the counts at  mm > 10 mJy. The three brightest sources yet found in a wide field MAMBO survey are of lower redshifts (~ 0.8 to 1.4), are X-ray bright, radio-loud, and time-variable. Their areal density is significantly higher than that expected from an extrapolation of the flat spectrum radio source population to 1.2 mm. Our preliminary analysis of the the brightest MAMBO source with a thermal submm spectrum (10 mJy at 1.2 mm) suggests it to be a radio-quiet, X-ray bright quasar at ~ 3, thereby is possibly the most luminous starburst ever found.

Observations of the Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S) with the bolometer array SIMBA on the SEST 15m telescope is presented. SIMBA operates at 1250 m and uses a fast-scanning observing technique suitable for large fields. An effective area of 110 sq arcmin was observed to a homogeneous noise level of 1.5 mJy.

We present spectroscopic identifications for a sample of 85 millimeter and submillimeter galaxies detected with the SCUBA/JCMT and MAMBO/IRAM30m facilities, all identified with deep 1.4GHz VLA radio observations. The galaxies lie at redshifts =0.5 to 3.5, We describe their properties, especially the presence of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the sample, and discuss the connection of the mm/submm galaxies and the formation of spheroidal components of galaxies, which requires knowledge of the timescales of their very luminous activity. For a subset of the galaxies, we show their disturbed and diverse optical morphologies.

Pan-chromatic galaxy surveys are providing tightening constraints on the global mass assembly history, and high-resolution imaging of large fields is telling us when and where stars were formed. How well are state-of-the-art hierarchical galaxy formation models currently doing at reproducing these observations? I present results here that suggest that hierarchical models are doing quite well at reproducing the star formation and stellar mass assembly history obtained from galaxies selected in the optical and Near IR. However, the same models fail to reproduce two very important populations at high redshift: quiescent red spheroids and vigorously star-forming, dust-enshrouded starbursts. This mismatch carries important lessons about how star formation is triggered and regulated in early galaxies, and may force us to consider new ideas about the formation of massive spheroids.

It is appropriate in a conference on the growth of galaxies to examine what we know about the evolution of galaxy sizes. Quantifying galaxy size evolution is challenging because most high-redshift galaxies are only barely resolved from the ground. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) has greatly improved our ability to measure the spatial structure of distant galaxies. We briefly review previous HST measurements of size evolution and present early results from analysis of the first three-fifths of the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) ACS data. The observed size evolution appears to follow the basic trends expected from hierarchical models.

The Wide-area Infrared Extragalactic (SWIRE) survey is a Program of the (SST)exploiting 851 hours of observatory time to conduct a set of large-area (currently foreseen ~ 49 square degrees split into 6 high Galactic latitude fields) imaging surveys, achieving 5 sensitivities of 4.3/6.5/33/36 Jy at 3.6/4.5/5.8/8.0 m with IRAC and 0.19/15/40 mJy at 24/70/160 m with MIPS. SWIRE will allow studying evolved galaxies (from IRAC data) and actively star-forming galaxies and quasars (from MIPS) over co-moving scales up to several hundreds Mpc and down to substantial cosmological depths (≃ 2.5 for luminous sources). Thanks to the large total survey area, SWIRE will provide a complement to smaller and deeper observations in the Spitzer Guaranteed Time and the Legacy Program, by allowing direct comparison of local and high-z galaxy samples and the investigation of the effects of environment on galaxy evolution.

The European Large Area ISO Survey, ELAIS, was the largest Open Time survey on the Infrared Space Observatory, ISO. It was designed to explore obscured galaxies and hence quantify the recent star-formation history of the Universe. We have recently completed our final reanalysis of the data, compiled band-merged catalogue products with associations across many wavelengths and released the data to the global astronomical community (http://astro.imperial.ac.uk/elais/). This paper summarizes some of the key results.

We present the results of a Hubble Space Telescope and ground based optical and near infrared study to identify progenitors of spirals and ellipticals at > 1. We identify these systems through photometric and spectroscopic redshifts, deep K-band imaging, stellar mass measurements, and high resolution imaging. The major modes of galaxy formation, including: major mergers, minor mergers, and accretion of intergalactic gas, and their relative contribution towards building up the stellar masses of galaxies, can now be directly measured using these data.

We describe results of optical and near-IR observations of a large spectroscopic sample of star-forming galaxies photometrically-selected to lie in the redshift range , often called the “redshift desert” because of historical difficulty in obtaining spectroscopic redshifts in this range. We show that the former “redshift desert” is now very much open to observation.