A deep and wide-area census of infrared-luminous galaxies in the high-redshift Universe

了解星系如何聚集它们的恒星和中央黑洞，对于理解我们自己的宇宙起源--我们的银河系、太阳系，最终是我们--是如何形成的，是至关重要的一部分。此外，彻底了解星系是如何形成的，使我们能够将星系本身用作控制宇宙演化的神秘暗物质和暗能量的灵敏探测器。经过科学家使用NSF设备的密集工作，我们现在知道，星系组装的一些最重要的阶段发生在宇宙历史的前半部分，在中等亮度的星系中，直到最近，因为它们在天空中看起来很暗，所以很难被探测到。该项目将使用NSF和NASA的尖端设施来调查这些中等亮度的遥远星系的性质，并确定如何利用它们的性质来理解像我们银河系这样的星系是如何形成的。该项目还将通过产生可用于广泛调查的数据，使其他天文学家的重要工作成为可能。与K-12教师合作制定的教育可视化和教案将有助于STEM教育。观测到的活动星系核和恒星形成是整个宇宙历史上星系组装的基础。特别重要的是中等亮度的系统--那些具有logLir(LSun)~10-12的系统--因为这是大多数黑洞质量聚集发生的地方，也是恒星形成的主要顺序所在的地方。然而，关于z0.5上的模糊系统，仍然存在关键的悬而未决的问题--是什么触发了它们，什么消除了它们，以及它们的作用如何依赖于环境。这个项目将通过在四个DES/LSST深钻探区域(DDF)的38°2创建新的极深紫外线星表，然后利用这些星表来前所未有地详细研究高红移红外发光星系的演化，从而提高我们对中等亮度系统如何对Z1星系组装做出贡献的理解。科学目标是：(1)量化红外星系光度函数的演化，同时作为红移、电源和环境的函数，超过1z3和logLir(LSun)~9-12.2(2)首次直接测量在z2被遮挡的活动星系核LF的亮端，而不是从光学选择的群体外推；(3)测量Z4处大质量静止星系的数密度，以限制活动星系核宿主的演化和恒星的质量积累。所有DDF的完整目录也将向社区发布。该项目还将开发交互式3D可视化技术，供本科生和高中生使用。与弗吉尼亚理工大学的PhysTEC计划相结合，调查人员将直接与K-12教师合作，构建课程计划和教程，供社区免费使用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Understanding how galaxies assemble their stars and central black holes is a crucial part of understanding our own cosmic origins - how our Milky Way, our solar system, and ultimately us, came to be. Moreover, a thorough understanding of how galaxies are built up allows us to use galaxies themselves as sensitive probes of the mysterious dark matter and dark energy that dominate the evolution of the universe. After intensive work by scientists using NSF facilities, we now know that some of the most important phases of galaxy assembly occur during the first half of the history of the universe, in moderately luminous galaxies that have, until recently, been difficult to detect as they appear faint on the sky. This project will use cutting-edge NSF and NASA facilities to investigate the nature of these moderately luminous, distant galaxies, and determine how their properties can be used to understand how galaxies like our own Milky Way formed. This project will also enable important work by other astronomers, by producing data that can be used for a wide range of investigations. Educational visualizations and lesson plans, made in collaboration with K-12 teachers, will contribute to STEM education.Obscured AGN and star formation are fundamental to galaxy assembly across the history of the Universe. Of particular importance are the moderately luminous systems - those with log LIR(Lsun) ~ 10-12 - as this is where the majority of black hole mass assembly takes place, and where the main sequence of star formation lies. There remain however critical open questions about obscured systems at z0.5 - what triggers them, what quenches them, and how their role depends on environment. This project will advance our understanding of how moderately luminous systems contribute to galaxy assembly at z1 by creating new, extremely deep ultraviolet through far-infrared catalogs across the 38 deg2 of the four DES/LSST Deep Drilling fields (DDFs), and then using these catalogs to study the evolution of high-redshift infrared-luminous galaxies in unprecedented detail. The science goals are: (1) quantify the evolution of the infrared galaxy luminosity function, simultaneously as functions of redshift, power source and environment, over 1 z 3 and log LIR(Lsun) ~ 9 - 12.2 (2) perform the first direct measurement of the bright end of the obscured AGN LF at z 2, without extrapolation from optically selected populations, and (3) measure the number density of massive quiescent galaxies at z4, to constrain AGN host evolution and stellar mass buildup at this epoch. The full catalogs across all of the DDFs will also be released to the community. This project will also develop interactive, 3D visualizations for use with both undergraduate and high school students. In conjunction with the Virginia Tech 'PhysTEC' program, the investigators will work directly with K-12 teachers to construct lesson plans and tutorials, which will be freely available to the community.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.