Seminar
Rare dusty galaxies in the early Universe: Herschel unveils extreme star-formation

Over the past ~20 years the high-redshift Universe has been increasingly opened to scrutiny at far-infrared wavelengths, where cool dust emission from star-formation dominates. The dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) and submillimeter galaxies (SMGs), selected at these wavelengths likely represent an important, but short-lived phase in the growth of massive galaxies. These DSFGs often have star-formation rates in excess of ~1000 solar masses per year and are confirmed out to at least z~6, although their redshifts and high dust contents make them faint and difficult to study at other wavelengths. Now, using data from the Herschel Space Observatory we have identified a population of DSFGs that are strongly gravitationally lensed and therefore magnified and available for unprecedented multi-wavelength scrutiny. I will describe how this important gravitationally lensed population is identified, and present and interpret the data from our extensive multi-wavelength, multi-facility follow-up studies. I will also present follow-up observations of an intriguing sample of the highest redshift DSFGs (z>4) that are also selected via Herschel data, and that are proving troublesome to explain in galaxy formation simulations.