UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

The Redshift Distribution of Dusty Star-forming Galaxies From the Spt Survey

Strandet, ML; Weiss, A; Vieira, JD; de Breuck, C; Aguirre, JE; Aravena, M; Ashby, MLN; ... Welikala, N; + view all (2016) The Redshift Distribution of Dusty Star-forming Galaxies From the Spt Survey. The Astrophysical Journal , 822 (2) , Article 80. 10.3847/0004-637X/822/2/80. Green open access

[thumbnail of Strandet_2016_ApJ_822_80.pdf]
Preview
Text
Strandet_2016_ApJ_822_80.pdf - Published Version

Download (2MB) | Preview

Abstract

We use the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Cycle 1 to determine spectroscopic redshifts of high-redshift dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) selected by their 1.4 mm continuum emission in the South Pole Telescope (SPT) survey. We present ALMA 3 mm spectral scans between 84 and 114 GHz for 15 galaxies and targeted ALMA 1 mm observations for an additional eight sources. Our observations yield 30 new line detections from CO, [C i], [N ii], H2O and NH3. We further present Atacama Pathfinder Experiment [C ii] and CO mid-J observations for seven sources for which only a single line was detected in spectral-scan data from ALMA Cycle 0 or Cycle 1. We combine the new observations with previously published and new millimeter/submillimeter line and photometric data of the SPT-selected DSFGs to study their redshift distribution. The combined data yield 39 spectroscopic redshifts from molecular lines, a success rate of >85%. Our sample represents the largest data set of its kind today and has the highest spectroscopic completeness among all redshift surveys of high-z DSFGs. The median of the redshift distribution is z = 3.9 ± 0.4, and the highest-redshift source in our sample is at z = 5.8. We discuss how the selection of our sources affects the redshift distribution, focusing on source brightness, selection wavelength, and strong gravitational lensing. We correct for the effect of gravitational lensing and find the redshift distribution for 1.4 mm selected sources with a median redshift of z = 3.1 ± 0.3. Comparing to redshift distributions selected at shorter wavelengths from the literature, we show that selection wavelength affects the shape of the redshift distribution.

Type: Article
Title: The Redshift Distribution of Dusty Star-forming Galaxies From the Spt Survey
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.3847/0004-637X/822/2/80
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/822/2/80
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Cosmology: observations, early universe, galaxies: evolution, galaxies: high-redshift, ISM: molecules, DEEP-FIELD-SOUTH, SUBMILLIMETER GALAXIES, MOLECULAR GAS, FORMATION HISTORY, NUMBER COUNTS, POLE TELESCOPE, LABOCA SURVEY, ALMA SURVEY, BAND, EMISSION
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10038478
Downloads since deposit
Loading...
0Downloads
Download activity - last month
Loading...
Download activity - last 12 months
Loading...
Downloads by country - last 12 months
Loading...

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item