Studies of the submm galaxy population in ECDFS: LESS, ALESS and zLESS

The LABOCA ECDFS Submm Survey (LESS) is an extragalactic submillimetre survey using the LABOCA Camera on the MPIfR/ESO/OSO-owned 12-m APEX Telescope. The project mapped the 0.5×0.5 degree Extended Chandra Deep Field South (ECDFS) field at 870um to a depth of ~1.2mJy. We were subsequently awarded an ESO VLT Large Programme (zLESS - allocated 220hrs with VIMOS and FORS2, as well as XSHOOTER) to obtain spectroscopy of the LESS submillimetre sources, and ALMA Cycle 0 and 1 time to study the entire sample of submillimetre-detected sources in ECDFS (the ALESS project). Press releases related to the projects can be found here and here)

Far-infrared (FIR) bright galaxies are some of the most luminous galaxies at z~0, but, they contribute just 0.3% of the luminosity density. They could therefore be easily dismissed as an unimportant component of the galactic zoo, except that new sensitive submillimetre cameras have shown that ultraluminous FIR galaxies (ULIRGs) are much more common at high redshifts. These surveys show that the volume density of luminous submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) increases by 1000x out to a redshift of z~2, and thus, in contrast to the local Universe, luminous obscured galaxies at high redshifts could dominate the total bolometric emission from all galaxies at early epochs. To investigate this population, we have used the new large-format LABOCA submillimetre bolometer array on the APEX telescope to survey the ECDFS.

The ECDFS is a 0.5x0.5 degree region centred on the Chandra Deep Field South at 03:32 -27:48. This field has very low far-infrared backgrounds and good ALMA visibility and hence has become one of the pre-eminent fields for cosmological survey science. In particular, the field has been surveyed by Spitzer at 70-um with MIPS (and associated 24 and 160um observations) as part of the FIDEL survey (PI: Mark Dickinson) and there is deep Herschel FIR mapping of this region at 250, 350 and 500um (as well as earlier observations from the BLAST balloon experiment). These are the deepest surveys at these wavelengths ever undertaken and provide sufficient sensitivity at 870um, 70-500um and 1.4 GHz (as well as 24um) to tightly constrain the dust spectra of submillimetre sources for the first time. By including FIR photometry for the 870-um-detected sources (the FIR and 870um depths and beam-sizes are well-matched), we reduce the uncertainties in L_FIR by an order of magnitude. Therefore, we will derive dust temperatures and masses and L_FIR for the majority of the submillimetre sources and use these to test fundamental relations such as the form of the FIR-radio correlation at high redshift and so determine the true importance of SMGs for the energy balance in the high-redshift Universe.

The LESS project used 350 hours on LABOCA, with equal contributions from MPI and ESO. The PIs of LESS are: Ian Smail (ESO co-PI), Fabian Walter (ESO co-PI) and Axel Weiss (MPI PI). The survey is a collaboration of around 40 scientists based in Europe and the US: D. Alexander, E. Bell, F. Bertoldi, C. de Breuck, C. Cesarsky, S. Chapman, K. Coppin, P. Cox, H. Dannerbauer, J. Dunlop, M. Franx, R. Genzel, G. Hasinger, R. Ivison, A. Kovacs, K. Knudsen, E. Kreysa, D. Lutz, V. Mainieri, K. Meisenheimer, K. Menten, A. Omont, P. Popesso, A. Renzini, H.-W. Rix, E. Schinnerer, N. Foerster, G. Siringo, A.M. Swinbank, P. van der Werf, C. Vlahakis, N, Brandt, M. Dickinson, P. van Dokkum & E. Gawiser. Volunteers from this group then pursued the subsequent zLESS and ALESS studies.

The zLESS survey targeted statistically-identified radio/mid-infrared counterparts to the submillimetre sources (identified in Biggs et al. 2010), as well as a large number of other galaxy populations in the same regions. These precise redshifts will be used to derive the redshift distribution of the submillimetre sources and to investigate their clustering relative to the other populations (see also Hickox et al. 2012). Due to technical problems at ESO, this survey was only completed at the end of 2012 and we anticipate publication in 2013.

The ALMA Cycle 0 study of the 126 submillimetre sources in the ECDFS yielded 120-s Band 7 (870um) images of 122 of the LESS sources. A moderate fraction of these maps are poor due to being observed at low elevations, resulting in elliptical beams and in some cases noise levels far above those requested. Hodge et al. (2013) provide catalogues of the SMGs detected in these maps and these are used as the basis for studying the true SMG counterparts to the submillimetre sources from LESS (including follow-up Cycle 1 ALMA projects and Hubble Space Telescope imaging).

The ALESS core group is: I. Smail, F. Walter, J.A. Hodge, A.M. Swinbank, J.M., Simpson, A. Karim, R.J. Ivison, D.M. Alexander, F. Bertoldi, A.D. Biggs, W.N. Brandt, S.C. Chapman, K.E.K. Coppin, P. Cox, A.L.R. Danielson, H. Dannerbauer, C. de Breuck, R. Decarli, A.C. Edge, T.R. Greve, K.K., Knudsen, K.M., Menten, H.-W., Rix, E., Schinnerer, J.L., Wardlow, P., van der Werf, A. Weiss.

Publications

The results from these surveys are available here:

25)  ``An ALMA survey of sub-millimeter galaxies in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South: Physical properties derived from ultraviolet-to-radio modelling'', da Cunha, E., Walter, F., Smail, I., Swinbank A.M., Simpson, J.M., Decarli, R., Hodge, J.A., Weiss, A., van der Werf, P.P., Bertoldi, F., Chapman, S.C., Cox, P., Danielson, A.L.R., Dannerbauer, H., Greve, T.R., Ivison, R.J., Karim, A., Thomson, A.P., 2015, ApJ, submitted.

24)  ``An ALMA survey of sub-millimeter galaxies in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South: Near-infrared morphologies and stellar sizes from HST WFC3/IR imaging'', Chen, C.C., Smail, I., Swinbank A.M., Simpson, J.M., Ma, C.-J., Alexander, D.M., Biggs, A.D., Brandt, W.N., Chapman, S.C., Coppin, K.E.K., Danielson, A.L.R., Dannerbauer, H., Edge, A.C., Greve, T.R., Ivison, R.J., Karim, A., Menten, K.M., Schinnerer, E., Walter, F., Wardlow, J.L., Weiss, A., van der Werf, P.P., 2015, ApJ, 799, 194-222. PDF version, Abstract.

23)  ``Detection of molecular gas in an ALMA [CII]-identified submillimeter galaxy at z=4.44'', Huynh, M.T., Kimball, A.E., Norris, R.P., Smail, I., Chow, K.E., Coppin, K.E.K., Emonts, B.H.C., Ivison, R.J., Smolcic, V., Swinbank, A.M., 2014, MNRAS, 443, L54-L58. PDF version, Abstract.

22)  ``An ALMA survey of submillimeter galaxies in the Extended Chandra Deep Field-South: Radio properties and the far-infrared/radio correlation'', Thomson, A.P., Ivison, R.J., Simpson, J.M., Swinbank, A.M., Smail, I., Alexander, D.M., Beelen, A., Brandt, W.N., Chandra, I., Dannerbauer, H., Greve, T.R., Hodge, J.A., Ibar, E., Karim, A., Murphy, E.J., Schinnerer, E., Sirothia, S., Walter, F., Wardlow, J.L., Weiss, A., van der Werf, P.P., 2014, MNRAS, in press. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

21)  ``An ALMA survey of submillimeter galaxies in the Extended Chandra Deep Field-South: The redshift distribution and evolution of submillimeter galaxies'', Simpson, J.M., Swinbank, A.M., Smail, I., Alexander, D.M., Brandt, W.N., Bertoldi, F., Chapman, S.C., Coppin, K.E.K., Danielson, A.L.R., Dannerbauer, H., De Breuck, C., Da Cunha, E., Greve, T.R., Hodge, J.A., Ivison, R.J., Karim, A., Knudsen, K.K., Poggianti, B.M., Schinnerer, E., Thomson, A.P., Walter, F., Wardlow, J.L., Weiss, A., van der Werf, P.P., 2014, ApJ, in press. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

20)  ``An ALMA survey of submillimeter galaxies in the Extended Chandra Deep Field-South: The far-infrared properties of submillimeter galaxies'', Swinbank, A.M., Simpson, J.M., Smail, I., Harrison, C.M., Hodge, J.A., Karim, A., Walter, F., Alexander, D.M., Brandt, W.N., De Breuck, C., Da Cunha, E., Chapman, S.C., Coppin, K.E.K., Danielson, A.L.R., Dannerbauer, H., Greve, T.R., Ivison, R.J., Knudsen, K.K., Lagos, C., Schinnerer, E., Thomson, A.P., Wardlow, J.L., Weiss, A., van der Werf, P.P., 2014, MNRAS, 438, 1267-1287. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

19)  ``An ALMA survey of submillimeter galaxies in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South: Submillimeter properties of color-selected galaxies'', Decarli, R., Smail, I., Walter, F., Chapman, S., Coppin, K.E.K., Cox, P., Dannerbauer, H., Greve, T.R., Hodge J.A., Ivison, R.J., Karim, A., Knudsen, K.K., Lindroos, L., Rix, H.-W., Schinnerer, E., Simpson, J.M., Swinbank, A.M., van der Werf, P., Weiss, A., 2014, ApJ, 780, 115-127 Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

18)  ``An ALMA survey of submillimeter galaxies in the Extended Chandra Deep Field-South: The AGN fraction and X-ray properties of submillimeter galaxies'', Wang, S.X., Brandt, W.N., Luo, B., Smail, I., Alexander, D.M., Danielson, A.L.R., Hodge, J.A., Karim, A., Lehmer, B.D., Simpson, J.M., Swinbank, A.M., Walter, F., Wardlow, J.L., Xue, Y.Q., Chapman, S.C., Coppin, K.E.K., Dannerbauer, H., De Breuck, C., Menten, K.M., van der Werf, P., 2013, ApJ, 778, 179-203. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

17)  ``An ALMA survey of submillimeter galaxies in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South: Source Catalog and Multiplicity'', Hodge, J.A., Karim, A., Smail, I., Swinbank, A.M., Walter, F., Biggs, A.D., Ivison, R.J., Weiss, A., Alexander, D.M., Bertoldi, F., Brandt, W.N., Chapman, S.C., Coppin, K.E.K., Cox, P., Danielson, A.L.R., Dannerbauer, H., de Breuck, C., Decarli, R., Edge, A.C., Greve, T.R., Knudsen, K.K., Menten, K.M., Rix, H.-W., Schinnerer, E., Simpson, J.M., Wardlow, J.L., van der Werf, P., 2013, ApJ, 768, 91. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

16)  ``An ALMA survey of submillimetre galaxies in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South: High resolution 870-um source counts'', Karim, A., Swinbank, A.M., Hodge, J.A., Smail, I., Walter, F., Biggs, A.D., Simpson, J.M., Danielson, A.L.R., Alexander, D.M., Bertoldi, F., Chapman, S.C., Coppin, K.E.K., Dannerbauer, H., Edge, A.C., Greve, T.R., Ivison, R.J., Knudsen, K.K., Menten, K.M., Schinnerer, E., Wardlow, J.L., Weiss, A., van der Werf, P., 2013, MNRAS, in press. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

15)  ``Physical conditions of gas in an ALMA [CII]-identified submillimetre galaxy at z=4.44'', Hunyh, M.T., Norris, R.P., Coppin, K.E.K., Emonts, B.H.C., Ivison, R.J., Seymour, N., Smail, I., Smolcic, V., Swinbank, A.M., Brandt, W.N., Chapman, S.C., Dannerbauer, H., De Breuck, C., Greve, T.R., Hodge, J.A., Karim, A., Knudsen, K.K., Menten, K.M., van der Werf, P.P., Walter, F., Weiss, A., 2013, MNRAS, 431, L88-L92. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

14)  ``An ALMA survey of Sub-millimetre Galaxies in the ECDFS: Serendipitous detection of [CII] emission and evolution of the [CII] luminosity function to z=4.4'', Swinbank, A.M., Karim, A., Smail, I., Hodge, J., Walter, F., Biggs, A., de Breuck, C., Chapman, S.C., Coppin, K.E.K., Cox, P., Danileson, A.L.R., Ivison, R.J., Greve, T.R., Knudsen, K.K., Menten, K.M., Simpson, J.M., Schinnerer, E., Weiss, A., van der Werf, P., 2012, MNRAS, 427, 1066-1074. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

13)  ``Herschel-PACS observations of [OI]65um towards submillimetre galaxies'', Coppin, K.E.K., Danielson, A.L.R. Geach, J.E., Hodge, J.A., Swinbank, A.M., Wardlow, J.L., Bertoldi, F., Biggs, A., Brandt, W.N., Caselli, P., Chapman, S.C., Dannerbauer, H., Dunlop, J.S., Greve, T.R., Hamann, F., Ivison, R.J., Karim, A., Knudsen, K.K., Menten, K.M., Schinnerer, E., Smail, I., Spaans, M., Walter, F., Webb, T.M.A., van der Werf, P.P., 2012, MNRAS, 427, 520-532. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

12)  ``Panchromatic Estimation of Star Formation Rates in BzK Galaxies at z=1-3'', Kurczynski, P., Gawiser, E., Huynh, M., Ivison, R.J., Treister, E., Smail, I., Blanc, G.A., Cardamone, C.N., Greve, T.R., Schinnerer, E., Urry, M., van der Werf, P., Walter, F., 2012, ApJ, 750, 117. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

11)  ``The LABOCA Survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South: Clustering of submillimetre galaxies'', Hickox, R.C., Wardlow, J.L., Smail, I., Myers, A.D., Alexander, D.M., Swinbank, A.M., Danielson, A.L.R., Stott, J.P., Chapman, S.C., Coppin, K.E.K., Dunlop, J.S., Gawiser, E., Lutz, D., van der Werf, P., Weiss, A., 2012, MNRAS, 421, 284-295. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

10)  ``A Herschel view of the far-infrared properties of submillimetre galaxies'', Magnelli, B., Lutz, D., Santini, P., Saintonge, A., Berta, S., Albrecht, M., Altieri, B., Andreani, P., Aussel, H., Bertoldi, F., Bethermin, M., Bongiovanni, A., Capak, P., Chapman, S., Cepa, J., Cimatti, A., Daddi, E., Danielson, A.L.R., Dannerbauer, H., Dunlop, J.S., Elbaz, D., Farrah, D., Forster Schreiber, N.M., Genzel, R., Hwang, H.W., Ivison, R.J., Le Floc'h, E., Magdis, G., Maiolino, R., Nordon, R., Oliver, S.J., Perez Garcia, A., Poglitsch, A., Popesso, P., Pozzi, F., Riguccini, L., Rodighiero, G., Rosario, D., Roseboom, I., Salvato, M., Sanchez-Portal, M., Scott, D., Smail, I., Sturm, E., Swinbank, A.M., Tacconi, L.J., Valtchanov, I., Wuyts, S., 2011, A&A, 539, 155. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

9)  ``The LABOCA survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South: A photometric redshift survey of submillimetre galaxies'', Wardlow, J.L., Smail, I., Coppin, K.E.K., Alexander, D.M., Brandt, W.N., Danielson, A.L.R., Luo, B., Swinbank, A.M., Walter, F., Weiss, A., Xue, Y.Q., Zibetti, S., Bertoldi, F., Biggs, A.D., Chapman, S.C., Dannerbauer, H., Dunlop, J.S., Gawiser, E., Ivison, R.J., Knudsen, K.K., Kovacs, A., Lacey, C.G., Menten, K.M., Padilla, N., Rix, H.-W., van der Werf, P.P., 2011, MNRAS, 415, 1479-1508. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

8)  ``The LABOCA survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South: Radio and Mid-Infrared Counterparts to Submillimetre Galaxies'', Biggs, A.D., Ivison, R.J., Ibar, E., Wardlow, J.L., Dannerbauer, H., Smail, I., Walter, F., Weiss, A., Chapman, S.C., Coppin, K.E.K., De Breuck, C., Dickinson, M., Knudsen, K.K., Mainieri, V., Menten, K., Papovich, C., 2010, MNRAS, 413, 2314-2338.

7)  ``A Joint Analysis of BLAST 250-500um and LABOCA 870um Observations in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South'', Chapin, E.L., Chapman, S.C., Coppin, K.E.K., Devlin, M.J., Greve, T.R., Hasselfied, M.F., Hughes, D.H., Ivison, R.J., Marsden, G., Moncelsi, L., Pascale, E., Scott, D., Smail, I., Viero, M.P., Walter, F., Weiss, A., van der Werf, P., 2011, MNRAS, 411, 505-549. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

6)  ``The BLAST 250um-selected galaxy populations in GOODS-South'', Dunlop, J.S., Ade, P.A.R., Bock, J.J., Chapin, E.L., Cirasuolo, M., Coppin, K.E.K., Devlin, M.J., Griffin, M., Greve, T.R., Gundersen, J.O., Halpern, M., Hargrave, P.C., Hughes, D.H., Ivison, R.J., Klein, J., Kovacs, A., Marsden, G., Mauskopf, P., Netterfield, C.B., Olmi, L., Pascale, E., Patanchon, G., Rex, M., Scott, D., Semisch, C., Smail, I., Targett, T.A., Thomas, N., Truch, M.D.P., Tucker, C., Tucker, G.S., Viero, M.P., Walter, F., Wardlow, J.L., Weiss, A., Wiebe, D.V., 2009, MNRAS, 408, 2022-2050. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

5)  ``A LABOCA survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South: Submillimeter Properties of Near-IR Selected Galaxies'', Greve, T.R., Weiss, A., Walter, F., Smail, I., Zheng, X.Z., Knudsen, K.K., Coppin, K.E.K., Kovacs, A., Bell, E.F., De Breuck, C., Dannerbauer, H., Dickinson, M., Gawiser, E., Lutz, D., Rix, H.-W., Schinnerer, E., Alexander, D.M., Bertoldi, F., Brandt, W.N., Chapman, S.C., Ivison, R.J., Koekemoer, A.M., Kreysa, E., Kurczynski, P., Menten, K., Siringo, G., Swinbank, A.M., van der Werf, P.P., 2009, ApJ, 719, 483-496. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

4)  ``The LABOCA survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South: Two modes of star formation in AGN hosts?'', Lutz, D., Mainieri, V., Rafferty, D., Shao, L., Hasinger, G., Weiss, A., Walter, F., Smail, I., Alexander, D.M., Brandt, W.N., Chapman, S., Coppin, K., Forster-Schreiber, N.M., Gawiser, E., Genzel, R., Greve, T.R., Ivison, R.J., Koekemoer, A.M., Kurczynski, P., Menten, K.M., Nordon, R., Popesso, P., Silverman, J.D., Wardlow, J., Xue, Y.Q., 2009, ApJ, 712, 1287-1301.Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

3)  ``BLAST: the far-infrared/radio correlation in distant galaxies'', Ivison, R.J., Alexander, D.M., Biggs, A.D., Brandt, W.N., Chapin, E.L., Devlin, M.J., Dickinson, M., Dunlop, J., Dye, S., Eales, S., Frayer, D.T., Halpern, M., Hughes, D.H., Ibar, E., Kovacs, A., Marsden, G., Moncelsi, L., Netterfield, C.B., Pascale, E., Patanchon, G., Rafferty, D.A., Rex, M., Scott, D., Semisch, C., Smail, I., Truch, M.D.P. Tucker, G.S., Viero, M.P., Walter, F., Weiss, A., Wiebe, D.V., Xue, Y.Q., 2010, MNRAS, 402, 245-258. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

2)  ``The LABOCA Survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South'', Weiss, A., Kovacs, A., Coppin, K.E.K., Greve, T.R., Walter, F., Smail, I., Dunlop, J.S., Knudsen, K.K., Alexander, D.M., Bertoldi, F., Brandt, W.N., Chapman, S.C., Cox, P., Dannerbauer, H., De Breuck, C., Gawiser, E., Ivison, R.J., Lutz, D., Menten, K.M., Koekemoer, A.M., Kreysa, E., Kurczynski, P., Rix, H.-W., Schinnerer, E., van der Werf, P.P., 2009, ApJ, 707, 1201-1216. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

1)  ``A Submillimetre Galaxy at z=4.76 in the LABOCA Survey of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South'', Coppin, K.E.K., Smail, I., Alexander, D.M., Weiss, A., Walter, F., Swinbank, A.M., Greve, T.R., Kovacs, A., De Breuck, C., Dickinson, M., Ibar, E., Ivison, R.J., Reddy, N., Spinrad, H., Stern, D., Brandt, W.N., Chapman, S.C., Dannerbauer, H., van Dokkum, P., Dunlop, J.S., Frayer, D., Gawiser, E., Geach, J.E., Huynh, M., Knudsen, K.K., Koekemoer, A.M., Lehmer, B.D., Menten, K., Papovich, C., Rix, H.-W., Schinnerer, E., Wardlow, J.L., van der Werf, P.P., 2009, MNRAS, 395, 1905-1914. Postscript version, PDF version, Abstract.

Data products

The LABOCA map of ECDFS is available from the ESO archive here and the catalogue is here. The primary reference for this map is Weiss et al. (2009, ApJ, 707, 1201). Papers using this map should acknowledge APEX programmes 078.F-9028(A), 079.F-9500(A), 080.A-3023(A), 081.F-9500(A).

The catalogs of sources from the ALMA survey of LESS sources are available here: Table 2, Table 3 and Table 4. The primary reference for these data is Hodge et al. (2013, ApJ, 768, 91) and papers using these data should acknowledge ALMA programme 2011.0.00294.S.

At present we recommend restricting your analysis to the "MAIN" sample of ALMA maps: those with rms of < 0.6mJy and beam axial ratios of < 2. SMGs with SNR > 3.5 sigma within the primary beam of these maps are expected to be robust. In addition SMGs with > 4.0 sigma outside the primary beam of these maps and those with > 4.0 in the none-MAIN maps are included in a "SUPPLEMENTARY" catalogue, these SMGs should only be used with extreme caution as many may be spurious.