Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 2014. 52: Copyright © 2014 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved

Reprinted with kind permission from Annual Reviews, 4139 El Camino Way, Palo Alto, California, USA

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Abstract: Roughly half of the radiation from evolving galaxies in the early universe reaches us in the far-infrared and submillimeter wavelength range. Recent major advances in observing capabilities, in particular the launch of the Herschel Space Observatory in 2009, have dramatically enhanced our ability to use this information in the context of multiwavelength studies of galaxy evolution. Near its peak, three quarters of the cosmic infrared background is now resolved into individually detected sources. The use of far-infrared diagnostics of dust-obscured star formation and of interstellar medium conditions has expanded from rare extreme high-redshift galaxies to more typical main sequence galaxies and hosts of active galactic nuclei, out to z ≳ 2. These studies shed light on the evolving role of steady equilibrium processes and of brief starbursts, at and since the peak of cosmic star formation and black hole accretion. This review presents a selection of recent far-infrared studies of galaxy evolution, with an emphasis on Herschel results.

Key words: Infrared galaxies, Active galaxies, Star formation, Cosmic infrared background, Interstellar medium, High redshift galaxies

Table of Contents

• THE ROAD TO HERSCHEL SURVEYS
• An inventory of Herschel surveys
• A RESOLVED VIEW OF THE COSMIC FAR-INFRARED BACKGROUND
• Number counts and resolved fraction of the far-infrared background
• Extinction insensitive star formation rates and comparison to other tracers
• Evolution of the infrared luminosity function and the star formation rate density
• Clustering of infrared galaxies and the role of environment
• GALAXIES AND INFRARED SPECTRAL ENERGY DISTRIBUTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE EVOLVING STAR FORMING SEQUENCE
• Evolution of infrared spectral energy distributions with redshift
• Infrared galaxies in relation to the star forming main sequence
• FAR-INFRARED EMISSION OF HIGH REDSHIFT GALAXY POPULATIONS
• Gravitational lenses as detailed probes of the interstellar medium at high redshift
• UV selected galaxies
• Submillimeter galaxies from ground-based surveys
• Dust-obscured galaxies
• STAR FORMATION IN HOSTS OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI
• DUST AS AN INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM TRACER IN DISTANT GALAXIES
• Dust as a tracer of cold gas
• OUTLOOK
• SUMMARY POINTS
• REFERENCES