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A Population of z > 2 Far-infrared Herschel-SPIRE-selected Starbursts

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  • C. M. Casey
  • S. Berta
  • M. Béthermin
  • J. Bock
  • C. Bridge
  • D. Burgarella
  • E. Chapin
  • S. C. Chapman
  • D. L. Clements
  • A. Conley
  • C. J. Conselice
  • A. Cooray
  • D. Farrah
  • E. Hatziminaoglou
  • R. J. Ivison
  • E. le Floc'h
  • D. Lutz
  • G. Magdis
  • B. Magnelli
  • S. J. Oliver
  • M. J. Page
  • F. Pozzi
  • D. Rigopoulou
  • L. Riguccini
  • I. G. Roseboom
  • D. B. Sanders
  • Douglas Scott
  • N. Seymour
  • I. Valtchanov
  • J. D. Vieira
  • M. Viero
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<mark>Journal publication date</mark>4/12/2012
<mark>Journal</mark>The Astrophysical Journal
Issue number2
Volume761
Pages (from-to)139
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

We present spectroscopic observations for a sample of 36 Herschel-SPIRE250-500 μm selected galaxies (HSGs) at 2 <z <5 from theHerschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey. Redshifts are confirmed aspart of a large redshift survey of Herschel-SPIRE-selected sourcescovering ~0.93 deg2 in six extragalactic legacy fields.Observations were taken with the Keck I Low Resolution ImagingSpectrometer and the Keck II DEep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph.Precise astrometry, needed for spectroscopic follow-up, is determined byidentification of counterparts at 24 μm or 1.4 GHz using across-identification likelihood matching method. Individual sourceluminosities range from log (L IR/L ⊙) =12.5-13.6 (corresponding to star formation rates (SFRs) 500-9000 M⊙ yr-1, assuming a Salpeter initialmass function), constituting some of the most intrinsically luminous,distant infrared galaxies discovered thus far. We present bothindividual and composite rest-frame ultraviolet spectra and infraredspectral energy distributions. The selection of these HSGs isreproducible and well characterized across large areas of the sky incontrast to most z > 2 HyLIRGs in the literature, which are detectedserendipitously or via tailored surveys searching only for high-zHyLIRGs; therefore, we can place lower limits on the contribution ofHSGs to the cosmic star formation rate density (SFRD) at (7 ± 2)× 10-3 M ⊙yr-1 h 3 Mpc-3 at z ~ 2.5,which is >10% of the estimated total SFRD of the universe fromoptical surveys. The contribution at z ~ 4 has a lower limit of 3× 10-3 M ⊙yr-1 h 3 Mpc-3, gsim20% ofthe estimated total SFRD. This highlights the importance of extremelyinfrared-luminous galaxies with high SFRs to the buildup of stellarmass, even at the earliest epochs.