# 1 Star-Formation at High Redshift

## 1 Star-Formation at High Redshift

The global star-formation history of the Universe , , , derived from optical-UV data, imply that the star-formation and metal-production rates were $`10`$ times greater at $`z1`$ than in the local Universe , that they peaked at $`z11.5`$ and that they declined to values comparable to those observed at the present day at $`z4`$. However these optical-UV data may offer a distorted view of the evolution of the early Universe because the star-formation rate (SFR) in high-redshift objects is inevitably under-estimated unless some correction for dust obscuration is included in deriving the rest-frame UV luminosity . Second, it is possible that an entire population of heavily dust-enshrouded high-redshift objects, as expected in some models of elliptical galaxy formation , have gone undetected in the optical/UV surveys.

At high redshifts ($`z>1`$), the strongly-peaked far-infrared (FIR) radiation emitted by star-formation regions in distant galaxies is redshifted into the sub-mm waveband, and the resulting large negative K–correction at submm wavelengths is sufficient to offset the dimming of galaxies due to their cosmological distances. Consequently the flux density of a galaxy at $`\lambda 850\mu \mathrm{m}`$ with fixed intrinsic FIR luminosity is expected to be roughly constant at all redshifts in the range $`1z10`$ , , .

Using the new sub-mm array camera SCUBA  on the 15-m JCMT it is now possible to conduct unbiased sub-mm selected surveys and quantify the amount of star-formation activity in the young Universe by observing directly the rest-frame FIR emission from dust in high-redshift galaxies. In this paper we briefly summarise the first results from the deepest sub-mm SCUBA survey, complete to a flux density limit $`S_{850\mu \mathrm{m}}>2`$ mJy, centred on the HDF. In contrast to mid-IR studies , such an 850$`\mu \mathrm{m}`$ survey is predicted to be completely dominated by sources at $`z1`$, and the number of detectable sources is very sensitive to the high-redshift evolution of the dusty starburst population. A full description of these data, observing methods, reduction techniques, detailed analysis and interpretation is described elsewhere .

## 2 A deep sub-mm survey of the Hubble Deep Field

The 850$`\mu `$m SCUBA survey of the HDF, with 14.7 arcsecs resolution, reaches a 1$`\sigma `$ noise level of 0.45 mJy/beam and represents the deepest sub-mm map ever taken. The positions of the brightest (and most secure) 5 sources are given in table 1, together with their 850-$`\mu `$m flux densities. The two major results from this preliminary analysis concern the sub-mm background and the star-formation density in the early Universe . These are discussed in turn.

### 2.1 Resolving the submillimetre background

A P(D) analysis indicates the flux density distribution is matched reasonably well by a source density of about $`7000\mathrm{deg}^2`$ brighter than 1 mJy, which corresponds to the observed density of brighter sources, extrapolated with a Euclidean count slope, with the major caveat that this number assumes an unclustered source distribution. The counts must continue to flux densities somewhat fainter than 1 mJy, but the present data do not have the sensitivity to estimate where the inevitable break from the Euclidean slope occurs. This is best constrained by asking at what flux density the extrapolated count exceeds the submm background. By summing the flux densities in table 1, a lower limit to the background contributed by discrete submm sources of 20 mJy/5.6 arcmin<sup>2</sup> is found, equivalent to $`\nu I_\nu =1.5\times 10^{10}\mathrm{Wm}^2\mathrm{sr}^1`$, or approximately half the FIRAS background estimate . There is, however, evidence in our data, specifically by continuing the deconvolution until the residual noise is statistically symmetric, or using the cumulative counts to 1 mJy derived above, that the true background contributed by discrete sources may be up to a factor of two higher than this, essentially identical to the original FIRAS estimate, and consistent with more than 50% of the revised background estimate at $`850\mu \mathrm{m}`$  which suggests $`\nu \mathrm{I}_\nu =5.0\pm 4\times 10^{10}\mathrm{Wm}^2\mathrm{sr}^1`$. The faint counts must therefore flatten by a flux density of about 0.3 mJy, otherwise even this background estimate would be exceeded.

### 2.2 The redshift distribution of sub-mm sources in the HDF

A comparison of the typical spectral energy distribution for starburst galaxies with the detections (or upper-limits) of the submm HDF sources at 7, 15, 450 and 850$`\mu \mathrm{m}`$, and at 1.4 and 8.5 GHz (see  and references therein) offers a powerful test of whether the submm sources are likely to be associated with high or low redshift galaxies. When combined with the calculation of the chance probability that the submm source is, in turn, associated with each of the nearby optical and radio sources (for which spectroscopic or photometric redshifts exist), we find that four of the five brightest submm sources appear to be associated with starburst galaxies in the redshift range $`2z4`$, whilst HDF850.4 appears to be associated with a starburst galaxy at $`z1`$. A superposition of the submm sources on the HST image of the HDF and a detailed discussion of their most probable optical HST counterparts are presented by Hughes et al. .

### 2.3 The star formation density in the early Universe

The redshifts of the sub-mm sources, based on the suggested optical identifications, are consistent with the expectation that the galaxies detected in the 850$`\mu `$m survey of the HDF down to a flux limit $`S_{850\mu \mathrm{m}}=2`$ mJy should be dominated by objects at redshifts $`z1`$. Given this, and the flat flux-density–redshift relation between $`z=1`$ and $`z=10`$, the dust-enshrouded SFRs (assuming that heating of the dust by an obscured AGN is insignificant) of the 5 brightest galaxies can be robustly estimated despite their imprecise redshifts. By summing the FIR SFRs and dividing by the appropriate cosmological volume, a first, conservative estimate of the level of dust-enshrouded star-formation rate in the high redshift Universe can be made using observations that are insensitive to the obscuring effects of dust. For illustrative purposes, it is assumed that four of the five sources lie in the redshift interval $`2<z<4`$, in which case a lower-limit to the dust-enshrouded star-formation rate density is $`0.21h\mathrm{M}_{}\mathrm{yr}^1\mathrm{Mpc}^3`$ (assuming $`q_0=0.5`$) at $`z3`$. This datum is compared in figure 1 with the optically-derived star-formation history of the Universe , the dust-corrected star-formation history predicted from the evolution of radio-loud AGN  and that inferred from the metal-production rate as determined from the observed column densities and metallicities in QSO absorbers .

This unique submm survey of unprecedented sensitivity has identified a population of high-redshift dusty starburst galaxies which contribute a significant fraction of the extragalactic submm background. These data also suggest that a significant fraction ($`>90\%`$) of the star-formation activity in the early Universe may have been missed in previous optical studies. Four of the five brightest submillimetre sources in the HDF alone provides a density of dust-enshrouded star-formation at $`z>2`$ which is at least a factor of $`5`$ greater than that deduced from Lyman-limit systems . The extent to which even this is an under-estimate depends on the number of sources fainter than $`S_{850}=2`$mJy at comparable redshift.

The immediate challenge is therefore to determine the true redshift distribution of the submm sources, in particular to confirm that galaxies detected in the deepest submm surveys lie at $`z>1`$. This can be achieved by making millimetre interferometric measurements, with sub-arcsec positional errors, of the brightest sub-mm sources, and subsequently obtaining optical/IR spectroscopic redshifts of their unambiguously identified optical, IR or radio counterparts.