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The phase transition between galaxies and quasars is often identified with the rare population of hyper-luminous, hot dust-obscured galaxies. Galaxy formation models predict these systems to grow via mergers, that can deliver large amounts of gas toward their centers, induce intense bursts of star formation and feed their supermassive black holes. Here we report the detection of 24 galaxies emitting Lyman-alpha emission on projected physical scales of about 400 kpc around the hyper-luminous hot dust-obscured galaxy W0410-0913, at redshift z = 3.631, using Very Large Telescope observations. While this indicates that W0410-0913 evolves in a very dense environment, we do not find clear signs of mergers that could sustain its growth. Data suggest that if mergers occurred, as models expect, these would involve less massive satellites, with only a moderate impact on the internal interstellar medium of W0410-0913, which is sustained by a rotationally-supported fast-rotating molecular disk, as Atacama Large Millimeter Array observations suggest., 26 pages, 12 figures, 1 table. Authors' version. Published in Nature Communications on 05 August 2022

We present a detailed stellar population analysis of 11 bright ($H10$., Comment: 27 pages + Appendix; accepted by ApJ

arXiv:2103.03584v1, We use the SPace Infrared telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA) project as a template to demonstrate how deep spectrophotometric surveys covering large cosmological volumes over extended fields (1–15 deg2) with a mid-IR imaging spectrometer (17–36 µm) in conjunction with deep photometry with a far-IR camera, at wavelengths which are not affected by dust extinction can answer the most crucial questions in current galaxy evolution studies. A SPICA-like mission will be able for the first time to provide an unobscured three-dimensional (3D, i.e. x, y, and redshift z) view of galaxy evolution back to an age of the universe of less than ∼ 2 Gyrs, in the mid-IR rest frame. This survey strategy will produce a full census of the Star Formation Rate (SFR) in the universe, using polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) bands and fine-structure ionic lines, reaching the characteristic knee of the galaxy luminosity function, where the bulk of the population is distributed, at any redshift up to z ∼ 3.5. Deep follow-up pointed spectroscopic observations with grating spectrometers onboard the satellite, across the full IR spectral range (17–210 µm), would simultaneously measure Black Hole Accretion Rate (BHAR), from high-ionisation fine-structure lines, and SFR, from PAH and low- to mid-ionisation lines in thousands of galaxies from solar to low metallicities, down to the knee of their luminosity functions. The analysis of the resulting atlas of IR spectra will reveal the physical processes at play in evolving galaxies across cosmic time, especially its heavily dust-embedded phase during the activity peak at the cosmic noon (z ∼ 1–3), through IR emission lines and features that are insensitive to the dust obscuration., LS and JAFO acknowledge financial support by the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) under the research contract 2018-31-HH.0. AAH acknowledges support from grants PGC2018-094671-B-I00 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER,UE) and No. MDM-2017-0737 at Unidad de Excelencia María de Maeztu-Centro de Astrobiología (INTACSIC). FJC acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry MCIU under project RTI2018-096686-B-C21 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER/UE), cofunded by FEDER funds and from the Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Unidad de Excelencia María de Maeztu, ref. MDM-2017-0765. HD acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU) under the 2014 Ramón y Cajal program RYC-2014-15686 and AYA2017-84061-P, the later one co-financed by FEDER (European Regional Development Funds). AL acknowledges the support from Comunidad de Madrid through the Atracción de Talento grant 2017-T1/TIC-5213. MPS acknowledges support from the Comunidad de Madrid, Spain, through Atracción de Talento Investigador Grant 2018-T1/TIC-11035.