Studying Galaxy Formation Using Deep, Long Wavelength Surveys
In the field of galaxy formation and evolution a UK ATC astronomer made the now-famous discovery of submm galaxies by SCUBA, alongside colleagues at Durham and Cambridge, and led subsequent submm surveys and many of the crucial follow-up observations. Our understanding of submm galaxies is built largely on the combination of deep sub-mm and deep radio imaging led by the UK ATC. The latter provides the accurate positions necessary to obtain unambiguous optical/IR identifications, thence redshifts, thence molecular gas masses and dynamics - in a nutshell, all the characteristics essential to our understanding of this important population. UK ATC astronomers have also led some of the largest and most ambitious observing programmes ever approved with the IRAM PdB interferometer, the IRAM 30m, the VLA and, most recently, the SMA and GMRT arrays.