ALMA survey of the SCUBA-2 CLS UDS field

The space density and masses of SMGs suggest that almost all galaxies with M_*_>=3x10^11^M_{sun}_ have passed through an SMG-like phase. The redshift distribution is well fit by a model combining evolution of the gas fraction in haloes with the growth of halo mass past a critical threshold of M_h_~6x10^12^M_{sun}_, thus SMGs may represent the highly efficient collapse of gas-rich massive haloes. We show that SMGs are broadly consistent with simple homologous systems in the far-infrared, consistent with a centrally illuminated starburst.

Our study provides strong support for an evolutionary link between the active, gas-rich SMG population at z>1 and the formation of massive, bulge-dominated galaxies across the history of the Universe.