CO and Near-Infrared Observations of High-Redshift Submillimeter Galaxies

Abstract

I discuss our ongoing Owens Valley Millimeter Array observations and Keck near-infrared wavelength observations of the high-redshift sub-mm population of galaxies. These observations are important for our understanding of the distant universe since the sub-mm population accounts for a large fraction of the extragalactic background at mm/sub-mm wavelengths and contributes significantly to the total amount of star-formation and AGN activity at high redshift. The CO data suggest that the sub-mm galaxies are analogous to the gas-rich ultraluminous systems found in the local universe. Initial near-infrared data show that many of the sub-mm galaxies are faint-red sources which are undetected at ultraviolet/optical wavelengths. These results highlight the importance that future sensitive mm-wavelength instruments, such as the LMT and ALMA, will have on our understanding of the early evolution and formation of galaxies.