Eric Jimenez, IRyA
Host: Ramandeep Gill
Exploring High-Redshift Galaxy Evolution with Ultra-Deep VLA Continuum Surveys
Radio continuum surveys provide a dust-unbiased view of star formation and supermassive black hole growth across the peak epoch of galaxy assembly at 0<z<5. By pushing the sensitivity and angular-resolution limits of the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), our team has obtained some of the deepest and highest-resolution radio continuum images ever produced, opening a unique window onto the radio emission of distant galaxies. In this talk, I will present deep multi-frequency VLA surveys of the GOODS-N and EGS fields reaching sub-μJy sensitivities and sub-arcsecond resolution at 3–10 GHz. After summarizing the available data products and survey characteristics, I will highlight several science applications enabled by combining these radio datasets with observations from HST, JWST, and major ground-based facilities. These include evidence for enhanced inverse Compton losses in high-redshift galaxies, the discovery of some of the most distant radio sources currently known, and new constraints on the multifrequency radio morphologies of galaxies out to z~4, helping to establish radio continuum emission as a robust tracer of dust-obscured star formation across cosmic time. I will also discuss recent constraints on the radio properties of the “little red dots” identified in deep JWST surveys, illustrating the growing synergy between next-generation radio continuum observations and large multiwavelength survey programs in shaping our understanding of galaxy evolution.