We crossmatch AKARI all-sky survey with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 10 (SDSS DR10) and the Final Data Release of the Two-Degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) and identify 118 Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs) and one Hyperluminous Infrared Galaxy (HLIRG). We find 40 new ULIRGs and one new HLIRG. ULIRGs in our sample are interacting galaxies or ongoing/post mergers. This is consistent with the fact that ULIRGs are major mergers of disk galaxies. We find that compared to local star forming SDSS galaxies of similar mass, local ULIRGs have lower oxygen abundances and this is consistent with the previous studies.

We conducted an unbiased near- to mid-infrared imaging and spectroscopic survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) as a part of the AKARI Mission Program \Large-area Survey of the LMC" (LSLMC, PI: T. Onaka). An area of about 10 square degrees of the LMC was observed by ve photometric bands (3.2, 7, 11, 15, and 24 m) and a low-resolution slitless prism (2 { 5 m, R 20) equipped with AKARI/IRC. We constructed and publicly released photometric and spectroscopic catalogues of point sources in the LMC based on the survey data. The catalogues provide a large number of near-infrared spectral data, coupled with complementary broadband photometric data. Combined use of the present AKARI LSLMC catalogues with other infrared point source catalogues of the LMC possesses scientic potential that can be applied to various astronomical studies.

Debris disks are circumstellar dust disks around main-sequence stars. They are important observational clues to understanding the planetary system formation. The zodiacal light is the thermal emission from the dust disk in our Solar system. For a comprehensive understanding of the nature and the evolution of dust disks around main-sequence stars, we try a comparative study of debris disks and the zodiacal light. We search for debris disks using the AKARI mid-infrared all-sky point source catalog. By applying accurate ux estimate of the photospheric emission based on the follow-up near-infrared observations with IRSF, we have improved the detection rate of debris disks. For a detailed study of the structure and grain properties in the zodiacal dust cloud, as an example of dust disks around main-sequence stars, we analyze the AKARI mid-infrared all-sky diffuse maps. As a result of the debris disks search, we found old (>1 Gyr) debris disks which have large excess emission compared to their age, which cannot be explained simply by the conventional steady-state evolution model. From the zodiacal light analysis, we nd the possibility that the dust grains trapped in the Earth's resonance orbits have increased by a factor of 3 in the past 20 years. Combining these results, we discuss the non-steady processes in debris disks and the zodiacal light.

The rst version of the AKARI far-infrared All-Sky Bright Source Catalogue (BSC ver.1) was released to public in March 2010. It has been widely used for various astrophysical researches. We are continuing efforts to produce the next edition. The new version is expected to be improved in accuracy and reliability, as well as its volume. Many improvements to the next version are in progress. The time-line signal is being re-examined throughout the entire data processing. Correction processes for signal linearity and detector responsivity, and procedure for masking signal anomaly are revised. The source extraction process is further tuned and operating parameters will be optimized. These bring better reliability of the source detection and possibly an increase of source numbers. The position accuracy is expected to be improved. Systematic position error seen around the Galactic plane will also be corrected. We also plan to deliver the Faint Source Catalogue version 1.

Multiple color selection techniques are successful in identifying quasars from wide-field broad- band imaging survey data. Among the quasars that have been discovered so far, however, there is a redshift gap at 5 . z . 5.7 due to the limitations of filter sets in previous studies. In this work, we present a new selection technique of high redshift quasars using a sequence of medium-band filters: nine filters with central wavelengths from 625 to 1025 nm and bandwidths of 50 nm. Photometry with these medium-bands traces the spectral energy distribution (SED) of a source, similar to spectroscopy with resolution R  15. By conducting medium-band observations of high redshift quasars at 4.7  z  6.0 and brown dwarfs (the main contaminants in high redshift quasar selection) using the SED camera for QUasars in EArly uNiverse (SQUEAN) on the 2.1-m telescope at the McDonald Observatory, we show that these medium-band filters are superior to multi-color broad-band color section in separating high redshift quasars from brown dwarfs. In addition, we show that redshifts of high redshift quasars can be determined to an accuracy of
z/(1 + z) = 0.002 – 0.026. The selection technique can be extended to z  7, suggesting that the medium-band observation can be powerful in identifying quasars even at the re-ionization epoch.

We will report our recent study on the properties of more than 1,600 galaxies detected by the AKARI All-Sky Survey with physical quantities based on optical and 21-cm observations, to understand the physics determining the infrared spectral energy distribution (Totani et al., 2011). We discover a tight linear correlation for normal star-forming galaxies between the radiation field strength of dust heating (corresponding to dust temperature) and the galactic-scale infrared radiation field, LTIR/R2 . This is the tightest correlation of dust temperature ever known, and the dispersion along the mean relation is 13% in dust temperature. This relation can be explained physically by a thin layer of heating sources embedded in a thicker, optically-thick dust screen. We also find that the number of galaxies sharply drops when galaxies become optically thin against dust-heating radiation, indicating that a feedback process to galaxy formation (e.g., by the photoelectric heating) is working when dust-heating radiation is not self-shielded on a galactic scale. We discuss implications from these findings for the MHI -size relation, the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation, and galaxy formation in the cosmological context.

We investigate the relation between star formation activity and PAH 3.3 μm emission. Our targets are mid-infrared-excess galaxies selected from the AKARI all-sky survey point source catalog. We performed AKARI near-infrared spectroscopy for them. As a result, we obtained 2.5 − 5 μm spectra of 79 galaxies, and selected 35 star-forming galaxies out of them. Comparing the PAH 3.3 μm luminosities with the infrared luminosities, we find a linear correlation between them. However, by adding the results from literatures for luminous infrared galaxies and ultra-luminous infrared galaxies that are more luminous than our sample, the ratio of the PAH to the infrared luminosity is found to decrease towards the luminous end.

Many observations have found evidence of the presence of a large number of heavily obscured Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs). However, the nature of this population is only poorly understood because heavy obscuration by dust prevents one from finding them at optical wavelengths. Mid-infrared AGN searches can overcome this obstacle by penetrating through dust and by detecting direct emission from the dust torus. Thus, we can identify most of the AGN population, including type-2 and buried AGNs. Using the AKARI mid-infrared all-sky survey, we performed an AGN search in the nearby universe. Utilizing the 2MASS photometry, we selected mid-infrared-excess sources and carried out near-infrared spectroscopic observations in the AKARI Phase 3. During these follow-up observations, we have found three galaxies that show strong near-infrared red continuum from hot dust with a temperature of about 500 K, but do not show any AGN features in other wavelengths. The most suitable explanation of near-infrared continuum is the presence of central AGNs. Therefore, we conclude that they are AGNs obscured by dust. We performed X-ray observations of the two galaxies with SUZAKU. No detections in the 0.4-10 keV suggest that the column density may be much higher than NH=1023.5cm−2 . Comparing the masses of the host galaxies with those of the SDSS AGNs, we find that the host galaxies of the dusty AGNs discovered with AKARI are less massive populations than those of optically selected AGNs.

We present the properties of dust and the near-infrared spectral features in nearby early-type galaxies. The properties of dust are obtained from the AKARI far-infrared all-sky survey diffuse map. The AKARI/IRC is used for the near-infrared spectra. We improve spectral data with the new dark subtraction method on the basis of the knowledge acquired in our laboratory experiments of the engineering-model detector for the IRC. We have succeeded in fitting the continuum by a power-law function and detecting CO and SiO absorption features in early-type galaxy spectra. Comparing the properties of dust and near-infrared spectral features, we find that the power-law slope depends on dust temperature, but not on the dust mass, which suggests that low-luminosity AGNs may contribute to the changes in the power-law slope and dust temperature.