No Arabic abstract
We make predictions for the cosmological surveys to be conducted by the future Herschel mission operating in the far-infrared. The far-infrared bands match the peak of the CIRB, the brightest background of astrophysical origin. Therefore, surveys in these bands will provide essential information on the evolutionary properties of Luminous and Ultra-Luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIGs and ULIGs), starburst and normal galaxies. Our predictions are based on a new phenomenological model obtained from the 15-micron luminosity function of galaxies and AGN, fitting all the ISOCAM observables (source counts and redshift distributions) and also the recently published Spitzer source counts in the 24-micron band. We discuss the confusion noise due to extragalactic sources, depending strongly on the shape of the source counts and on the telescope parameters. We derive the fraction of the CIRB expected to be resolved by Herschel in the different wavebands and we discuss extragalactic surveys that could be carried on by Herschel for different scientific puropouses (i.e. ultra-deep, deep and shallow).
We make predictions for the cosmological surveys to be conducted by MIPS/SIRTF at 24, 70 and 160 microns, for the GTO and the legacy programs, using the latest knowledge of the instrument. In addition to detector and cirrus confusion noise, we discuss in detail the derivation of the confusion noise due to extragalactic sources, that depends strongly on the shape of the source counts at a given wavelength and on the telescope and detector pixel sizes. We show that it is wise in general to compare the classical photometric criterion and the so called source density criterion to predict the confusion levels. We obtain, using the model of Lagache, Dole, & Puget (2002) limiting fluxes of 50 microJy, 3.2 mJy and 36 mJy at 24, 70 and 160 microns (resp.). We compute the redshift distributions of the detected sources at each wavelength, and show that they extend up to z ~ 2.7 at 24 microns and up to z ~ 2.5 at 70 and 160 microns, leading to resolve at most 69, 54 and 24% of the Cosmic Infrared Background (CIB) at 24, 70 and 160 microns (resp.). We estimate which galaxy populations will be used to derive the luminosity function evolution with redshift. We also give the redshift distributions of the unresolved sources in the FIR range, that dominates the fluctuations of the CIB, and a predicted power spectrum showing the feasibility of fluctuations (due to Poissonian & clustered source distributions) measurements. The main conclusion is that MIPS (and SIRTF in general) cosmological surveys will greatly improve our understanding of galaxy evolution by giving data with unprecedented accuracy in the mid and far infrared range.
We present new calculations of the CAT3D clumpy torus models, which now include a more physical dust sublimation model as well as AGN anisotropic emission. These new models allow graphite grains to persist at temperatures higher than the silicate dust sublimation temperature. This produces stronger near-infrared emission and bluer mid-infrared (MIR) spectral slopes. We make a statistical comparison of the CAT3D model MIR predictions with a compilation of sub-arcsecond resolution ground-based MIR spectroscopy of 52 nearby Seyfert galaxies (median distance of 36 Mpc) and 10 quasars. We focus on the AGN MIR spectral index $alpha_{MIR}$ and the strength of the 9.7 $mu$m silicate feature $S_{Sil}$. As with other clumpy torus models, the new CAT3D models do not reproduce the Seyfert galaxies with deep silicate absorption ($S_{Sil}<-1$). Excluding those, we conclude that the new CAT3D models are in better agreement with the observed $alpha_{MIR}$ and $S_{Sil}$ of Seyfert galaxies and quasars. We find that Seyfert 2 are reproduced with models with low photon escape probabilities, while the quasars and the Seyfert 1-1.5 require generally models with higher photon escape probabilities. Quasars and Seyfert 1-1.5 tend to show steeper radial cloud distributions and fewer clouds along an equatorial line-of-sight than Seyfert 2. Introducing AGN anisotropic emission besides the more physical dust sublimation models alleviates the problem of requiring inverted radial cloud distributions (i.e., more clouds towards the outer parts of the torus) to explain the MIR spectral indices of type 2 Seyferts.
We provide constraints on the AGN contribution to the mid-IR extragalactic background light from a correlation analysis of deep X-ray and mid-IR observations in two regions centred on the Lockman Hole (LH) and Hubble Deep Field North (HDFN). Among the 76 galaxies detected by XMM in the LH area (200 square arcminutes), 24 show mid-IR emission, but the relative percentage of X-ray sources with mid-IR counterparts increases with the band energy: from 30% of the 0.5-2 keV sources up to 63% of the 5-10 keV sources. In contrast, only a small fraction of the mid-IR sources (around 10%) show X-ray emission. In the region centred on the HDFN (24 square arcminutes), 25% of the mid-IR sources are detected in the X-ray, while 30-40% of the X-ray sources show mid-IR emission. Under the conservative assumption that all XMM sources are AGN-dominated, AGNs contribute 15% of the total mid-IR flux in the LH. For the HDFN we have assumed that AGN-dominated sources are luminous X-ray sources with radio to X-ray SEDs typical of local AGNs, in which case we find that 18% of the mid-IR flux are due to AGN emission. If we put together all the existing information from the deepest HDFN data to the shallow large-area BeppoSAX observations in the ELAIS S1 region using the median mid-IR to X-ray spectral indices as a function of the X-ray flux, we find an AGN contribution to the 15um background of 17%. We conclude that the population of IR luminous galaxies detected in the ISOCAM deep surveys are mainly constituted by dust-obscured starbursts.
Star formation and accretion onto supermassive black holes in the nuclei of galaxies are the two most energetic processes in the Universe, producing the bulk of the observed emission throughout its history. We simulated the luminosity functions of star-forming and active galaxies for spectral lines that are thought to be good spectroscopic tracers of either phenomenon, as a function of redshift. We focused on the infrared (IR) and sub-millimeter domains, where the effects of dust obscuration are minimal. Using three different and independent theoretical models for galaxy formation and evolution, constrained by multi-wavelength luminosity functions, we computed the number of star-forming and active galaxies per IR luminosity and redshift bin. We converted the continuum luminosity counts into spectral line counts using relationships that we calibrated on mid- and far-IR spectroscopic surveys of galaxies in the local universe. Our results demonstrate that future facilities optimized for survey-mode observations, i.e., the Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA) and the Cerro Chajnantor Atacama Telescope (CCAT), will be able to observe thousands of z>1 galaxies in key fine-structure lines, e.g., [SiII], [OI], [OIII], [CII], in a half-square-degree survey, with one hour integration time per field of view. Fainter lines such as [OIV], [NeV] and H_2 (0-0)S1 will be observed in several tens of bright galaxies at 1<z<2, while diagnostic diagrams of active-nucleus vs star-formation activity will be feasible even for normal z~1 galaxies. We discuss the new parameter space that these future telescopes will cover and that strongly motivate their construction.
Roughly half of the radiation from evolving galaxies in the early universe reaches us in the far-infrared and submillimeter wavelength range. Recent major advances in observing capabilities, in particular the launch of the Herschel Space Observatory in 2009, have dramatically enhanced our ability to use this information in the context of multiwavelength studies of galaxy evolution. Near its peak, three quarters of the cosmic infrared background is now resolved into individually detected sources. The use of far-infrared diagnostics of dust-obscured star formation and of interstellar medium conditions has expanded from rare extreme high-redshift galaxies to more typical main sequence galaxies and hosts of active galactic nuclei, out to z>~2. These studies shed light on the evolving role of steady equilibrium processes and of brief starbursts, at and since the peak of cosmic star formation and black hole accretion. This review presents a selection of recent far-infrared studies of galaxy evolution, with an emphasis on Herschel results