Anisotropy Studies of the Unresolved Far-infrared Background

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  • 22 March 2007
Abstract
Dusty, starforming galaxies and active galactic nuclei that contribute to the integrated background intensity at far-infrared wavelengths trace the large-scale structure. Below the point source detection limit, correlations in the large-scale structure lead to clustered anisotropies in the unresolved component of the far-infrared background (FIRB). The angular power spectrum of the FIRB anisotropies can be measured in surveys with the Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) on the upcoming Herschel observatory. To study statistical properties of these anisotropies, the confusion from foreground Galactic dust emission needs to be reduced even in the ``cleanest'' regions of the sky. The multi-frequency coverage of SPIRE allows foreground dust to be partly separated from extragalactic anisotropies. The separation improves for fields with sizes greater than about 500 deg.$^2$ when combined with Planck data, while an area of about 1000 degrees$^2$ provides maximal information on the anisotropy power spectrum. We discuss scientific studies that can be done with anisotropy measurements of the unresolved FIRB.

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