Special Astrophysics Seminar

Galaxy evolution at high-redshift:
millimeter-wavelength surveys with AzTEC

Kimberly Scott

University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Sub-millimeter/millimeter (sub-mm/mm) selected galaxies (SMGs) are high-redshift, dust-obscured starburst systems thought to represent an important phase in the formation of massive galaxies. Their projected number density as a function of flux density can put tight constraints on galaxy evolution scenarios; however, most sub-mm/mm surveys have lacked sufficient area and/or depth to derive accurate number counts of SMGs over a wide range of flux density. In this talk, I summarize the status of SMG surveys with AzTEC, a 1.1 mm bolometric camera, taken at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) and the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE). These surveys, which include observations of both “blank” fields and regions of known galaxy overdensities, represent the largest (~4 deg²) and deepest (S1.1mm = 0.5 — 1.5 mJy) set of 1.1 mm observations which have been reduced and analyzed using the same, well-tested algorithms. This data set has allowed for the first time accurate measurements of the blank-field differential number counts at 1.1 mm from 0.5 mJy < S1.1mm < 9 mJy. I also summarize the goals of the AzTEC/ASTE Cluster Environment Survey (ACES) and present preliminary results from studies of SMGs towards proto-clusters at high-redshift.