The extragalactic submillimetre population: predictions for the SCUBA Half-Degree Extragalactic Survey (SHADES)

Abstract

We present predictions for the angular correlation function and redshift distribution for SHADES, the SCUBA Half-Degree Extragalactic Survey, which will yield a sample of around 300 submillimetre sources in the 850-μm waveband in two separate fields. Complete and unbiased photometric redshift information on these submillimetre sources will be derived by combining the SCUBA data with (i) deep radio imaging already obtained with the Very Large Array, (ii) guaranteed-time Spitzer data at mid-infrared wavelengths, and (iii) far-infrared maps to be produced by BLAST, the Balloon-borne Large-Aperture Submillimeter Telescope. Predictions for the redshift distribution and clustering properties of the final anticipated SHADES sample have been computed for a wide variety of models, each constrained to fit the observed number counts. As we are dealing with around 150 sources per field, we use the sky-averaged angular correlation function to produce a more robust fit of a power-law shape w(θ) = (θ/A) -δ to the model data. Comparing the predicted distributions of redshift and of the clustering amplitude A and slope δ, we find that models can be constrained from the combined SHADES data with the expected photometric redshift information.