Duncan Farrah (Virginia Tech)

Far-infrared diagnostics of IR-Luminous Galaxies -- Duncan Farrah Seminar

Abstract

It is now well established that IR-luminous galaxies (ULIRGs) play a fundamental role in tracing the assembly of stars and central black holes in the moderate to high redshift Universe. However, it is also becoming clear that the nature of ULIRGs changes dramatically with redshift, for reasons that are not yet clear. Low-redshift ULIRGs play a central role in understanding these dramatic changes; they anchor studies of the evolution of ULIRGs with redshift, and provide accessible laboratories for both extreme rates of star formation, and the role of AGN. In this talk, I will discuss the use of far-infrared fine structure lines in diagnosing physical conditions in low-redshift ULIRGs. This will include the best and worst lines to use when measuring star formation rates and IR luminosities, and the origins of far-IR line deficits. These results have substantial implications for studies of ULIRGs at all redshifts with ALMA.