Deep surveys at mid-infared through submillimeter wavelengths indicate that a substantial fraction of the total luminosity output from galaxies at high redshift (z > 1) emerges at wavelengths 30 - 300 μm. In addition, much of the star formation and AGN activity associated with galaxy building at these epochs appears to reside in a class of luminous infrared galaxies (LIGs), often so heavily enshrouded in dust that they appear as 'blank-fields' in deep optical/UV surveys. Here we present an update on the state of our current knowledge of the cosmic evolution of LIGs from z = 0 to z ~ 4 based on the most recent data obtained from ongoing ground-based redshift surveys of sources detected in ISO and SCUBA deep fields. A scenario for the origin and evolution of LIGs in the local Universe (z < 0.3), based on results from multiwavelength observations of several large complete samples of luminous IRAS galaxies, is then discussed.

• D. B. SANDERS(Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Max Planck Institut fur Extraterrestrische Physik)