Alexandra Pope (NOAO--Spitzer Fellow)

Title: The Role of Submillimetre Galaxies in Massive Galaxy Evolution


Abstract: 

We present a comprehensive study of high redshift submillimetre
galaxies (SMGs) using the deepest multi-wavelength observations in
order to place them in the context of galaxy evolution
scenarios. Blank field surveys with the SCUBA camera on the JCMT have
revealed hundreds of these systems and they are known to be important
contributors to the total star formation rate density at high
redshifts. However, their faintness at other wavelengths and large
positional uncertainty have hindered a detailed study of SMGs. Our
sample consists of galaxies in the Great Observatories Origins Deep
Survey-North region where we find statistically likely
multi-wavelength counterparts for the majority of our sample. We
present redshifts, spectral energy distributions (SEDs), Spitzer
colours, and infrared (IR) luminosities for the SMGs. We present new
results from our Spitzer mid-IR spectroscopy program which helps to
dissect the IR emission into contributions from star formation and
active galactic nuclei (AGN) emission. We compare the mid-IR spectra
of SMGs to those of other luminous IR galaxies at high and low
redshift. We demonstrate the power of using the mid-IR emission line
strength to determine the star formation rate in SMGs. These results
are crucial for interpreting the role of SMGs in massive galaxy
evolution. They put constraints on the build-up of the black holes in
SMGs and explore the potential link between SMGs, quasars and local
massive elliptical galaxies.