Probing Galaxy Formation and Submillimeter Surveys

Multiwavelength observations of galaxies have revealed that a significant fraction of the their stellar or accretion luminosity is absorbed and reradiated by dust at far-infrared (FIR) and submillimeter (submm) wavelengths. Submillimeter (850 micron) surveys conducted by the SCUBA instrument on the JCMT have detected a population of high redshift (z approximately equal to 1-4) ultraluminous infrared galaxies, that dominate the luminosity densities at those redshifts. Their cumulative contribution to the cosmic infrared background (CIB) detected by the COBE satellite is comparable to the observations, suggesting that at 850 microns the CIB is resolved into its constituent sources. This suggests that the early universe was much more dust enshrouded than the present one. FIR and submm surveys can therefore address fundamental questions regarding the early processes of galaxy formation and their evolution in number and luminosity over cosmic history. The scientific information that can be obtained from such surveys depend on a number of parameters, the most important of which are the diameter of the telescope and the wavelengths of the survey. We summarize the effect of these parameters on the scientific return from such surveys.