Extragalactic Astrophysics With Next-Generation CMB Experiments

Abstract

Planck, SPT, and ACT surveys have clearly demonstrated that Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments, while optimized for cosmological measurements, have made important contributions to the field of extragalactic astrophysics in the last decade. Future CMB experiments have the potential to make even greater contributions. One example is the detection of high-z galaxies with extreme gravitational amplifications. The combination of flux boosting and of stretching of the images has allowed the investigation of the structure of galaxies at z ≃ 3 with the astounding spatial resolution of about 60 pc. Another example is the detection of proto-clusters of dusty galaxies at high z when they may not yet possess the hot intergalactic medium allowing their detection in X-rays or via the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect. Next generation CMB experiments, like PICO, CORE, CMB-Bharat from space and Simons Observatory and CMB-S4 from the ground, will discover several thousands of strongly lensed galaxies out to z ~ 6 or more and of galaxy proto-clusters caught in the phase when their member galaxies where forming the bulk of their stars. They will also detect tens of thousands of local dusty galaxies and thousands of radio sources at least up to z ≃ 5. Moreover they will measure the polarized emission of thousands of radio sources and of dusty galaxies at mm/sub-mm wavelengths.