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NATURE|Vol 440|27 April 2006|doi:10.1038/nature04806 INSIGHT REVIEW High-redshift galaxy populations Esther M. Hu1 & Lennox L. Cowie1 We now see many galaxies as they were only 800 million years after the Big Bang, and that limit may soon be exceeded when wide-field infrared detectors are widely available. Multi-wavelength studies show that there was relatively little star formation at very early times and that star formation was at its maximum at about half the age of the Universe. A small number of high-redshift objects have been found by targeting X-ray and radio sources and most recently, γ-ray bursts. The γ-ray burst sources may provide a way to reach even higher- redshift galaxies in the future, and to probe the first generation of stars. Over the past decade, the availability of a new generation of ground- towards the newly discovered z > 5 quasars found by the Sloan Digital and space-based instruments has transformed our understanding of Sky Survey, and the recent determination23,24, made by the Wilkinson early galaxies. Before this, observational studies of the star-forming Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) space experiment, of a high components in the early Universe were limited by both the extreme optical depth due to electron scattering in the microwave background faintness of these distant objects and the sparseness of their distribu- radiation. The latter result suggests that a substantial population of tion on the sky. At these early times in the life of the Universe, a sub- star-forming galaxies and quasars is already in place at very early times. stantial fraction of the matter is in neutral hydrogen that has not yet Both measurements probe the state of the gaseous material that com- been assembled into galaxies. The effect of a largely neutral interga- prises most of the baryonic material at early times, before substantial lactic medium (IGM), one that has not been substantially ionized by galaxy formation has taken place. In the standard picture, the Universe star-forming galaxies or quasars, is to further attenuate the light from cooled and expanded following the Big Bang, with ions recombining this early luminous population. It does this through absorption and into neutral atoms at z ≈ 1,100, about 370,000 years after the Big Bang23. resonant scattering by intervening hydrogen gas along the line of sight This material remained largely neutral until energy released from the — the famed Gunn–Peterson effect1. formation of collapsed objects ionized the surrounding medium, ren- The pace of recent progress has been stunning. Before 1996 no normal dering it transparent to ultraviolet light and allowing the first galax- star-forming galaxy was known to have a redshift remotely approaching ies to become visible. This epoch of re-ionization may lie at z ≈ 6.2, that of the most distant quasars and radio galaxies, but now not only is as indicated by quasar absorption-line studies19,20,22 that measure the it possible to confirm redshifts of distant galaxies that correspond to increase in absorption troughs and opacity of the IGM as a function of cosmic times within the first billion years of the age of the Universe, but redshift along the lines of sight to the distant quasars. But this result is such objects outdo quasars in both redshift record and known number. still controversial. Large telescopes such as the 10-m Keck telescopes, the 8-m Very Large However, the WMAP measurements of optical depths from the Telescopes (VLTs) of the European Southern Observatory, the 8.3-m microwave background measurements suggested an earlier redshift of Subaru telescope and the 8-m Gemini North and Gemini South tel- re-ionization at z ≈ 17 ± 5, or only a few hundred million years after the escopes make redshift determinations possible for such early galaxies, Big Bang. This has prompted the development of complex models25–27 for which were too faint to be spectroscopically identified by earlier genera- the ionization history of the Universe and the physical properties of the tions of telescopes. The redshift limit for studies of star-forming galax- IGM, as well as consideration of spatial and structural variations28,29 that ies jumped to z = 4.55 and z = 4.69 (refs 2, 3), or a cosmic age of about allow galaxies beyond z ≈ 6.2 to be observed. In addition, it has focused 1.3 Gyr, in 1996, soon after the first Keck 10-m telescope went into oper- attention on the sources of ionization, and on the galaxies and quasars ation. These values may be compared to the quasar redshift record4 for that may be present at very early times. Current interest is directed at that time of z = 4.89, which was set in 1991. Over the next two years, the learning how many galaxies there may be at substantially higher red- galaxy redshift limit quickly passed5–7 beyond z = 5 to redshift z = 5.74, shifts, establishing their properties, and finding ways to extend the or about 970 million years after the Big Bang. The galaxy limit continued searches beyond the present redshift samples, perhaps through obser- to exceed the redshifts of z > 5 quasars just then being found by the Sloan vations at other wavelengths. Digital Sky Survey until 2001 when the first quasars beyond z = 5.8 were An excellent review of high-redshift galaxy studies up to 2003 was reported8. However, the discovery9 of a galaxy of redshift z = 6.56 the written by Spinrad30,31. Since then we have seen a rapid growth in the following year once more surpassed the most distant quasar redshifts, numbers of galaxies that populate the high-redshift (z > 5) end of the and samples of galaxies in this redshift range have continued to grow samples. This redshift range corresponds to roughly the first 1.2 Gyr rapidly10–15. At present, the highest quasar redshift16 in the literature is after the Big Bang, and is the focus of the present review. The rapid z = 6.42, and the highest spectroscopically confirmed redshift13 for a growth has come from two developments: the colour analysis of the very galaxy is z = 6.597, which corresponds to a cosmic time about 800 mil- deep Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images of the two Great Observato- lion years after the Big Bang. Higher redshifts have been claimed17,18 but ries Origins Deep Survey32 (GOODS) fields and the Hubble Ultra Deep still await spectroscopic confirmation. Field (HUDF) subregion of the GOODS-South field; and the searches Two recent scientific developments have further spurred interest in for galaxies with hydrogen Lyα emission from star formation that have the number of galaxies and quasars at early epochs and their contribu- been made possible by the giant charge-coupled device (CCD) cam- tion to the ionizing radiation. These are the studies19–22 of the IGM eras on large telescopes. A third technique that may be very powerful, 1Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA. 1145 © 2006 Nature Publishing Group HHuu ppagesNB.inddagesNB.indd 11145145 119/4/069/4/06 22:42:13:42:13 ppmm © 2006 Nature Publishing Group INSIGHT REVIEW NATURE|Vol 440|27 April 2006 locating the galaxies through γ-ray bursts, is still at a very prelimi- colour break below the Lyman α emission line, and an asymmetric line nary stage. A few objects have been found at redshifts z > 5 from radio profile forms because of scattering of the blue wing of the Lyman α emis- surveys33 and X-ray surveys34,35, all with redshifts below z = 5.4. Such sion line28,39–41. Both these signatures — the strong hydrogen Lyman α high-redshift active galactic nuclei are estimated to make only a small emission line excited by star formation and its asymmetric profile, and contribution34 to the ionizing background at these redshifts. Only two the sharp decrease in galaxy light transmitted by the IGM below the objects, the highest-redshift33 radio galaxy TN J0924–2201 at z = 5.2 and wavelength of the Lyman continuum series, also known as the Lyman the highest-redshift16 quasar SDSS J114816.64+525150.3 at z = 6.42 have continuum colour break — can be used to identify high-redshift galaxy so far been detected in molecular lines36,37, as summarized in a recent candidates. review38 of molecular gas observed at high redshift. However, we expect The large, spectroscopically complete samples now available from the advent of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) with its wide-area surveys for a number of discrete fields13,15,42,43 provide a means increased sensitivity to revolutionize such studies38. of studying early galaxies and star formation. These give a handle on Despite the faintness of the optical galaxies and the attenuation of the problem of cosmic variance, and also allow us to build up the large their light by the intervening IGM, these star-forming galaxies dominate samples of data required for studies of the luminosity function. The the high-redshift population. Paradoxically, it is the very prevalence of spectroscopic information makes it possible to estimate the star-form- neutral hydrogen in the high-z IGM that provides the key observational ing population at high redshift and its evolution. Detailed examination signature for such distant galaxy populations. Intervening neutral hydro- and comparison of the strength and profile shape of the Lyα emission gen gas scatters rest-frame ultraviolet continuum light at wavelengths line may provide insights into possible changes in the underlying stel- below the break in the Lyman series, corresponding to a continuum lar population or in the neutral hydrogen content of the surrounding intergalactic medium.