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
Deep far-infrared photometric surveys studying galaxy evolution and the nature of the cosmic infrared background are a key strength of the Herschel mission. We describe the scientific motivation for the PACS Evolutionary Probe (PEP) guaranteed time k
ey program and its role in the complement of Herschel surveys, and the field selection which includes popular multiwavelength fields such as GOODS, COSMOS, Lockman Hole, ECDFS, EGS. We provide an account of the observing strategies and data reduction methods used. An overview of first science results illustrates the potential of PEP in providing calorimetric star formation rates for high redshift galaxy populations, thus testing and superseeding previous extrapolations from other wavelengths, and enabling a wide range of galaxy evolution studies.
Sensitive Herschel far-infrared observations can break degeneracies that were inherent to previous studies of star formation in high-z AGN hosts. Combining PACS 100 and 160um observations of the GOODS-N field with 2Msec Chandra data, we detect ~20% o
f X-ray AGN individually at >3sig. The host far-infrared luminosity of AGN with L2-10~10^43erg/s increases with redshift by an order of magnitude from z=0 to z~1. In contrast, there is little dependence of far-infrared luminosity on AGN luminosity, for L2-10<~10^44erg/s AGN at z>~1. We do not find a dependence of far-infrared luminosity on X-ray obscuring column, for our sample which is dominated by L2-10<10^44erg/s AGN. In conjunction with properties of local and luminous high-z AGN, we interpret these results as reflecting the interplay between two paths of AGN/host coevolution. A correlation of AGN luminosity and host star formation is traced locally over a wide range of luminosities and also extends to luminous high z AGN. This correlation reflects an evolutionary connection, likely via merging. For lower AGN luminosities, star formation is similar to that in non-active massive galaxies and shows little dependence on AGN luminosity. The level of this secular, non-merger driven star formation increasingly dominates over the correlation at increasing redshift.
We study the co-existence of star formation and AGN activity in X-ray selected AGN by analyzing stacked 870um submm emission from a deep and wide map of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South, obtained with LABOCA at the APEX telescope. The total X-ra
y sample of 895 sources with median redshift z~1 is detected at a mean submm flux of 0.49+-0.04mJy, corresponding to a typical star formation rate around 30Msun/yr for a T=35K, beta=1.5 greybody far-infrared SED. The good S/N permits stacking analyses for subgroups. We observe a trend of star formation rate increasing with redshift. An increase of star formation rate with AGN luminosity is indicated at the highest L_2-10>~1E44erg/s luminosities only. Increasing trends with X-ray obscuration as expected in some AGN evolutionary scenarios are not observed for the bulk of the X-ray AGN sample but may be present for the highest intrinsic luminosity objects. This suggests a transition between two modes in the coexistence of AGN activity and star formation. For the bulk of the sample, the X-ray luminosity and obscuration of the AGN are not intimately linked to the global star formation rate of their hosts. The hosts are likely massive and forming stars secularly, at rates similar to the pervasive star formation seen in massive galaxies without an AGN at similar redshifts. The change indicated towards more intense star formation, and a more pronounced increase in star formation rates between unobscured and obscured AGN at highest luminosities suggests that luminous AGN follow an evolutionary path on which obscured AGN activity and intense star formation are linked, possibly via merging. Comparison to local hard X-ray selected AGN supports this interpretation. [Abridged]
We present Spitzer rest-frame mid-infrared spectroscopy of twelve z~2 mm-bright type 1 QSOs, selected from unlensed and lensed QSO samples and covering a range of AGN optical luminosities L_5100=10^45 to 10^47 erg/s. On top of the AGN continuum, we d
etect PAH emission from luminous star formation in nine objects individually as well as in the composite spectrum for the full sample. PAH luminosity and rest frame far-infrared luminosity correlate and extend the similar correlation for lower luminosity local QSOs. This provides strong evidence for intense star formation in the hosts of these mm-bright QSOs, sometimes exceeding 1000 Msun/yr and dominating their rest frame far-infrared emission. The PAH-based limit on star formation rates is lower for luminous z~2 QSOs that are not preselected for their mm emission. Partly dependent on systematic changes of the AGN dust covering factor and the dust spectral energy distribution of the AGN proper, the spectral energy distributions of mm-faint high-z QSOs may be AGN dominated out to rest frame far-infrared wavelengths. Towards the most luminous high-z QSOs, there is a flattening of the relation between star formation and AGN luminosity that is observed for lower redshift QSOs. No QSO in our sample has a PAH-measured star formation rate in excess of 3000 Msun/yr.
We report the first detection of the 6.2micron and 7.7micron infrared `PAH emission features in the spectrum of a high redshift QSO, from the Spitzer-IRS spectrum of the Cloverleaf lensed QSO (H1413+117, z~2.56). The ratio of PAH features and rest fr
ame far-infrared emission is the same as in lower luminosity star forming ultraluminous infrared galaxies and in local PG QSOs, supporting a predominantly starburst nature of the Cloverleafs huge far-infrared luminosity (5.4E12 Lsun, corrected for lensing). The Cloverleafs period of dominant QSO activity (Lbol ~ 7E13 Lsun) is coincident with an intense (star formation rate ~1000 Msun/yr) and short (gas exhaustion time ~3E7yr) star forming event.
