Eric Richards

Virginia

        Determination of the epoch dependent star-formation
rate of field galaxies is one of the principal goals
of modern observational cosmology. Deep radio
surveys, sensitive to starbursts out to
$z \sim$ 1-2, may hold the key to understanding
the evolution of the starburst phenonemon,
unhindered by the effects of dust. Using
deep, high resolution radio observations of the
Hubble Deep Field, I show that the $\mu$Jy radio
emission from field galaxies at $z\sim 0.4-1$
is primarily starburst in origin. In addition,
we have discovered a population of optically
faint, possibly obscured systems that are candidate
high-$z$ protogalaxies.