Abstract

Exploring galaxy/AGN co-evolution and dwarf galaxy properties with MIRI serendipitous spectroscopic surveys

Matteo Bonato (Tufts University)

A. Sajina (Tufts University), G. De Zotti (INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova), J. McKinney (Tufts University), I. Baronchelli (California Institute of Technology), M. Negrello (Cardiff University), D. Marchesini (Tufts University), E. J. Roebuck (Tufts University), H. Shipley (Tufts University), N. Kurinsky (Stanford University), A. Pope (University of Massachusetts Amherst), A. Noriega-Crespo (Space Telescope Science Institute)

I will show predictions for spectroscopic observations with the MIRI Medium Resolution Spectrometer. Specifically, pointed observations of \textit{Herschel} sources will require only a few minutes for detections of several star-forming and AGN lines, out to z$=$3 and beyond, allowing us to efficiently investigate early phases of the SFR history and of the galaxy/AGN (co-)evolution. But the same data will also include tens of serendipitous 0$\lesssim$z$\lesssim$4.5 galaxies per field with IR luminosities down to $\sim10^{6}\,L_{\sun}$. Therefore, for the first time and for free, we will be able to detect very low-luminosity galaxies ($L_{\rm IR}<10^{9}\,L_{\sun}$) at high redshifts, and with good statistics. This will allow us to study the properties of these extreme galaxies and to test galaxy evolution models. Moreover such serendipitous surveys will achieve unexplored levels of SFR and BHAR, with an impressive improvement over \textit{Herschel} of about three orders of magnitude. These results hold for a wide range in the modelled low-L end of the IR luminosity function, and accounting for the PAH deficit in low-L, low-metallicity galaxies.

Mode of presentation: poster