A Model of the Cosmic Infrared Background Produced by Distant Galaxies

摘要

The extragalactic background radiation produced by distant galaxies emittingin the far infrared limits the sensitivity of telescopes operating in thisrange due to confusion. We have constructed a model of the infrared backgroundbased on numerical simulations of the large-scale structure of the Universe andthe evolution of dark matter halos. The predictions of this model agree wellwith the existing data on source counts. We have constructed maps of a skyfield with an area of 1 deg$^2$ directly from our simulated observations andmeasured the confusion limit. At wavelengths $100-300$ $\mu$m the confusionlimit for a 10-m telescope has been shown to be at least an order of magnitudelower than that for a 3.5-m one. A spectral analysis of the simulated infraredbackground maps clearly reveals the large-scale structure of the Universe. Thetwo-dimensional power spectrum of these maps has turned out to be close to thatmeasured by space observatories in the infrared. However, the fluctuations inthe number of intensity peaks observed in the simulated field show no clearcorrelation with superclusters of galaxies; the large-scale structure hasvirtually no effect on the confusion limit.