Simulating infrared spectro-photometric surveys with a SPRITZ
  Mid- and far-infrared (IR) photometric and spectroscopic observations are
fundamental to a full understanding of the dust-obscured Universe and the
evolution of both star formation and black hole accretion in galaxies. In this
work, using the specifications of the SPace Infrared telescope for Cosmology
and Astrophysics (SPICA) as a baseline, we investigate the capability to study
the dust-obscured Universe of mid- and far-IR photometry at 34 and 70 $\mu$m
and low-resolution spectroscopy at 17-36 $\mu$m using the state-of-the-art
Spectro-Photometric Realisations of Infrared-selected Targets at all-z (SPRITZ)
simulation. This investigation is also compared to the expected performance of
the Origins Space Telescope and the Galaxy Evolution Probe. The photometric
view of the Universe of a SPICA-like mission could cover not only bright
objects (e.g. L$_{IR}$>10$^{12}$L$_\odot$) up to z=10, but also normal
galaxies(L$_{IR}$<10$^{11}$L$_\odot$) up to z$\sim$4. At the same time, the
spectroscopic observations of such mission could also allow us to estimate the
redshifts and study the physical properties for thousands of star-forming
galaxies and active galactic nuclei by observing the polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons and a large set of IR nebular emission lines. In this way, a cold,
2.5-m size space telescope with spectro-photometric capability analogous to
SPICA, could provide us with a complete three-dimensional (i.e. images and
integrated spectra) view of the dust-obscured Universe and the physics
governing galaxy evolution up to z$\sim$4.
