Dust traced star formation in high redshift galaxies and the evolution of dust to the present day

Ward, Bradley 2024. Dust traced star formation in high redshift galaxies and the evolution of dust to the present day. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Interstellar dust, small solid grains that are ubiquitous to the interstellar medium (ISM), are essential in the formation of stars and the growth of galaxies. Dust has a number of important physical effects on a galaxy, most notably acting as the site of molecule formation, such as H2, which fuels the formation of stars. The presence of dust in the galaxy is inferred from the observational effects it has on its electromagnetic (EM) spectrum. Depending on the star formation activity, the quantity of dust, and the sources of heating, the spectrum of a galaxy can reveal important properties that tell us how they have formed and evolved. These solid grains reprocess the starlight from young, massive stars and reradiate this energy at far-infrared and sub-millimeter wavelengths. Since 2009, this region of the EM spectrum has been observed extensively with the Herschel Space Observatory, providing higher sensitivity and better angular resolution imaging of cold dusty regions of galaxies than had been seen previously. In this Thesis, we make use of large Herschel (and to a lesser extent South Pole Telescope) surveys of individual dusty galaxies to explore the relationship between dust emission and the formation and evolution of active star forming galaxies. First, we present the third data release of one of these large Herschel surveys, the Herschel-ATLAS, and my contribution to the data products. Second, we use this sample to quantify the dust content of galaxies over the past 8 billion years. Following this, we investigate whether dust takes the same physical and chemical properties at all cosmic epochs, by studying individual galaxies between z = 2 and z = 6. Finally, we use multiwavelength datasets that we reliably match to Herschel galaxies via radio emission, in order to study their evolutionary state.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Physics and Astronomy
Subjects:	Q Science > QC Physics
Uncontrolled Keywords:	astronomy, galaxies, dust, far-infrared, submillimetre, sub-mm, Herschel
Funders:	EPSRC
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	20 August 2024
Last Modified:	20 Aug 2024 11:08
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/171495

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