2006/03/24 by C. M. Baugh, C. G. Lacey, Baugh, C. M. +16
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0603679
10 pages. To appear in ``From Z-Machines to ALMA: (Sub)millimeter Spectroscopy of Galaxies'', ASP Conference Series, eds. A. J. Baker, J. Glenn, A. I. Harris, J. G. Mangum, M. S. Yun
arxiv created 2006/03/24 · openalex publication_date 2006/03/24 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We present a hierarchical galaxy formation model which can account for the number counts of sources detected through their emission at sub-millimetre wavelengths. The first stage in our approach is an ab initio calculation of the star formation histories for a representative sample of galaxies, which is carried out using the semi-analytical galaxy formation model GALFORM. These star formation histories are then input into the spectro-photometric code GRASIL, to produce a spectral energy distribution for each galaxy. Dust extinction and emission are treated self consistently in our model, without having to resort to ad-hoc assumptions about the amount of attenuation by dust or the temperature at which the dust radiates. We argue that it is necessary to modify the form of the stellar initial mass function in starbursts in order to match the observed number of sub-mm sources, if we are to retain the previous good matches enjoyed between observations and model predictions in the local universe. We also list some other observational tests that have been passed by our model.