The effect of thermally pulsating asymptotic giant branch stars on the evolution of the rest‐frame near‐infrared galaxy luminosity function (original) (raw)
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Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2006
We present the rest-frame Js-band and Ks-band luminosity function (LF) of a sample of about 300 galaxies selected in the HDF-S at Ks 23 (Vega). We use calibrated photometric redshift together with spectroscopic redshift for 25% of the sample. The accuracy reached in the photometric redshift estimate is 0.06 (rms) and the fraction of outliers is 1%. We find that the rest-frame Js-band luminosities obtained by extrapolating the observed Js-band photometry are consistent with those obtained by extrapolating the photometry in the redder H and Ks bands closer to the rest-frame Js, at least up to z ∼ 2. Moreover, we find no significant differences among the luminosities obtained with different spectral libraries. Thus, our LF estimate is not dependent either on the extrapolation made on the best-fitting template or on the library of models used to fit the photometry. The selected sample has allowed to probe the evolution of the LF in the three redshift bins [0;0.8), [0.8;1.9) and [1.9;4) centered at the median redshift z m ≃ [0.6, 1.2, 3] and to probe the LF at z m ≃ 0.6 down to the unprecedented faint luminosities M Js ≃ −13 and M Ks ≃ −14. We find hints of a raise of the faint end (M Js > −17 and M Ks > −18) near-IR LF at z m ∼ 0.6, raise which cannot be probed at higher redshift with our sample. The values of α we estimate are consistent with the local value and do not show any trend with redshift. We do not see evidence of evolution from z = 0 to z m ∼ 0.6 suggesting that the population of local bright galaxies was already formed at z < 0.8. On the contrary, we clearly detect an evolution of the LF to z m ∼ 1.2 characterized by a brightening of M * and by a decline of φ * . To z m ∼ 1.2 M * brightens by about 0.4-0.6 mag and φ * decreases by a factor 2-3. This trend persists, even if at a less extent, down to z m ∼ 3 both in the Js-band and in the Ks-band LF. The decline of the number density of bright galaxies seen at z > 0.8 suggests that a significant fraction of them increases their stellar mass at 1 < z < 2 − 3 and that they underwent a strong evolution in this redshift range. On the other hand, this implies also that a significant fraction of local bright/massive galaxies was already in place at z > 3. Thus, our results suggest that the assembly of massive galaxies is spread over a large redshift range and that the increase of their stellar mass has been very efficient also at very high redshift at least for a fraction of them.
The CANADA-FRANCE REDSHIFT SURVEY VI: Evolution of the galaxy luminosity function to z ~ 1
1995
The cosmic evolution of the field galaxy population has been studied out to a redshift of z ~ 1 using a sample of 730 I-band selected galaxies, of which 591 have secure redshifts with median ~ 0.56. The tri-variate luminosity function phi(M,color,z) shows unambiguously that the population evolves and that this evolution is strongly differential with color and, less strongly, with luminosity. The luminosity function of red galaxies shows very little change in either number density or luminosity over the entire redshift range 0 < z < 1. In contrast, the luminosity function of blue galaxies shows substantial evolution at redshifts z > 0.5. By 0.5 < z < 0.75, the blue luminosity function appears to have uniformly brightened by approximately 1 mag. At higher redshifts, the evolution appears to saturate at the brightest magnitudes but continues at fainter levels leading to a steepening of the luminosity function. A significant excess of galaxies relative to the Loveday et al. (1992) local luminosity function is seen at low redshifts z < 0.2 around M(B) ~ -18$ and these galaxies may possibly represent the descendants of the evolving blue population seen at higher redshifts. The changes seen in the luminosity function are also apparent in color-magnitude diagrams constructed at different epochs and in the V/V_max statistic computed as a function of spectral type. Finally, it is argued that the picture of galaxy evolution presented here is consistent with the very much smaller samples of field galaxies that have been selected in other wavebands, and with the results of studies of galaxies selected on the basis of Mg II 2799 absorption.
Confronting theoretical models with the observed evolution of the galaxy population out to z= 4
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2012
We construct light cones for the semi-analytic galaxy formation simulation of Guo et al. and make mock catalogues for comparison with deep high-redshift surveys. Photometric properties are calculated with two different stellar population synthesis codes in order to study sensitivity to this aspect of the modelling. The catalogues are publicly available and include photometry for a large number of observed bands from 4000 Å to 6 µm, as well as rest-frame photometry and other intrinsic properties of the galaxies (e.g. positions, peculiar velocities, stellar masses, sizes, morphologies, gas fractions, star formation rates, metallicities, halo properties). Guo et al. tuned their model to fit the low-redshift galaxy population but noted that at z ≥ 1 it overpredicts the abundance of galaxies below the 'knee' of the stellar mass function. Here we extend the comparison to deep galaxy counts in the B, i, J, K and IRAC 3.6, 4.5 and 5.8 µm bands, to the redshift distributions of K and 5.8 µm selected galaxies, the evolution of restframe luminosity functions in the B and K bands and the evolution of rest-frame optical versus near-infrared colours. The B, i and J counts are well reproduced, but at longer wavelengths the overabundant high-redshift galaxies produce excess faint counts. At bright magnitudes, counts in the IRAC bands are underpredicted, reflecting overly low stellar metallicities and the neglect of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission. The predicted redshift distributions for K and 5.8 µm selected samples highlight the effect of emission from thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. The full treatment of the Maraston model predicts three times as many z ∼ 2 galaxies in faint 5.8 µm selected samples as the model of Bruzual & Charlot, whereas the two models give similar predictions for K-band selected samples. Although luminosity functions are adequately reproduced out to z ∼ 3 in rest-frame B, the same is true at rest-frame K only if thermally pulsating AGB emission is included, and then only at high luminosity. Fainter than L , the two synthesis models agree but overpredict the number of galaxies, another reflection of the overabundance of ∼10 10 M model galaxies at z ≥ 1. The model predicts that red, passive galaxies should already be in place at z = 2 as required by observations.
Astrophysical Journal, 2006
(Abridged) We present the evolution of the volume averaged properties of the rest-frame optically luminous galaxy population to z~3, determined from four disjoint deep fields with optical to near-infrared wavelength coverage. We select galaxies above a rest-frame V-band luminosity of 3x10^10 Lsol and characterize their rest-frame UV through optical properties via the mean spectral energy distribution (SED). To measure evolution we apply the same selection criteria to a sample of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and COMBO-17. The mean rest-frame 2200Ang through V-band SED becomes steadily bluer with increasing redshift but at z<3 the mean SED falls within the range defined by ``normal'' galaxies in the nearby Universe. We measure stellar mass-to-light ratios (Mstar/L) by fitting models to the rest-frame UV-optical SEDs and derive the stellar mass density. The stellar mass density in luminous galaxies has increased by a factor of 3.5-7.9 from z=3 to z=0.1, including field-to-field variance uncertainties. After correcting to total, the measured mass densities at z<2 lie below the integral of the star formation rate (SFR) density as a function of redshift as derived from UV selected samples. This may indicate a systematic error in the mass densities or SFR(z) estimates. We find large discrepancies between recent model predictions for the evolution of the mass density and our results, even when our observational selection is applied to the models. Finally we determine that Distant Red Galaxies (selected to have J_s - K_s>2.3) in our LV selected samples contribute 30% and 64% of the stellar mass budget at z~2 and z~ 2.8 respectively. These galaxies are largely absent from UV surveys and this result highlights the need for mass selection of high redshift galaxies.
The Evolution of the Galaxy Luminosity Function in the Rest-Frame Blue Band up to z =3.5
The Astrophysical Journal, 2003
We present an estimate of the cosmological evolution of the field galaxy luminosity function (LF) in the rest frame 4400Å B-band up to redshift z = 3.5. To this purpose, we use a composite sample of 1541 I-selected galaxies selected down to I AB = 27.2 and 138 galaxies selected down to K AB = 25 from groundbased and HST multicolor surveys, most notably the new deep JHK images in the Hubble Deep Field South (HDF-S) taken with the ISAAC instrument at the ESO-VLT telescope. About 21% of the sample has spectroscopic redshifts, and the remaining fraction well calibrated photometric redshifts. The resulting blue LF shows little density evolution at the faint end with respect to the local values, while at the bright end (M B (AB) < −20) a brightening increasing with redshift is apparent with respect to the local LF. Hierarchical CDM models overpredict the number of faint galaxies by a factor ∼ 3 at z ≃ 1. At the bright end the predicted LFs are in reasonable agreement only at low and intermediate redshifts (z ≃ 1), but fail to reproduce the pronounced brightening observed in the high redshift (z ∼ 2 − 3) LF. This brightening could mark the epoch where a major star formation activity is present in the galaxy evolution.
The Astrophysical Journal, 1995
The cosmic evolution of the field galaxy population has been studied out to a redshift of z ∼ 1 using a sample of 730 I-band selected galaxies, of which 591 have secure redshifts with median < z >∼ 0.56. The tri-variate luminosity function φ(M, color, z) shows unambiguously that the population evolves and that this evolution is strongly differential with color and, less strongly, with luminosity. The luminosity function of red galaxies shows very little change in either number density or luminosity over the entire redshift range 0 < z < 1. In contrast, the luminosity function of blue galaxies shows substantial evolution at redshifts z > 0.5. By 0.5 < z < 0.75 the blue luminosity function appears to have uniformly brightened by approximately 1 magnitude. At higher redshifts, the evolution appears to saturate at the brightest magnitudes but continues at fainter levels leading to a steepening of the luminosity function. A significant excess of galaxies relative to the Loveday et al. (1992) local luminosity function is seen at low redshifts z < 0.2 around M AB (B) ∼ −18 and these galaxies may possibly represent the descendants of the evolving blue population seen at higher redshifts. The changes seen in the luminosity function are also apparent in color-magnitude diagrams constructed at different epochs and in the V /V max statistic computed as a function of spectral type. Finally, it is argued that the picture of galaxy evolution presented here is consistent with the very much smaller samples of field galaxies that have been selected in other wavebands, and with the results of studies of galaxies selected on the basis of Mg II 2799 absorption 1 Visiting Astronomer, Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, which is operated by the National
Astrophysical Journal, 2005
We combine HST/ACS imaging from the GEMS survey with redshifts and rest-frame quantities from COMBO-17 to study the evolution of morphologically early-type galaxies with red colors since z=1. We use a new large sample of 728 galaxies with centrally-concentrated radial profiles (Sersic n>2.5) and rest-frame U-V colors on the red sequence. By appropriate comparison with the local relations from SDSS, we find that the luminosity-size (L-R) and stellar mass-size (M-R) relations evolve in a manner that is consistent with the passive aging of ancient stars. By itself, this result is consistent with a completely passive evolution of the red early-type galaxy population. If instead, as demonstrated by a number of recent surveys, the early-type galaxy population builds up in mass by a factor of 2 since z=1, our results imply that new additions to the early-type galaxy population follow similar L-R and M-R correlations, compared to the older subset of early-type galaxies. Adding early-type galaxies to the red sequence through disk fading appears to be consistent with the data. Through comparison with models, the role of dissipationless merging is limited to <1 major merger on average since z=1 for the most massive galaxies. Predictions from models of gas-rich mergers are not yet mature enough to allow a detailed comparison to our observations. We find tentative evidence that the amount of luminosity evolution depends on galaxy stellar mass, such that the least massive galaxies show stronger luminosity evolution compared to more massive early types. This could reflect a different origin of low-mass early-type galaxies and/or younger stellar populations; the present data is insufficient to discriminate between these possibilities. (abridged)
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2006
We constrain the evolution of the galaxy mass and luminosity functions from the analysis of (public) multi-wavelength data in the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS) area, obtained from the GOODS and other projects, and including very deep high-resolution imaging by HST/ACS. Our reference catalogue of faint high-redshift galaxies, which we have thoroughly tested for completeness and reliability, comes from a deep (S3.6 ≥ 1 µJy) image by IRAC on the Spitzer Observatory. These imaging data in the field are complemented with extensive optical spectroscopy by the ESO VLT/FORS2 and VIMOS spectrographs, while deep K-band VLT/ISAAC imaging is also used to derive further complementary statistical constraints and to assist the source identification and SED analysis. We have selected a highly reliable IRAC 3.6µm sub-sample of 1478 galaxies with S3.6 ≥ 10 µJy, 47% of which have spectroscopic redshift, while for the remaining objects both COMBO-17 and Hyperz are used to estimate the photometric redshift. This very extensive dataset is exploited to assess evolutionary effects in the galaxy luminosity and stellar mass functions, while luminosity/density evolution is further constrained with the number counts and redshift distributions. The deep ACS imaging allows us to differentiate these evolutionary paths by morphological type, which our simulations show to be reliable at least up to z ∼ 1.5 for the two main early-(E/S0) and late-type (Sp/Irr) classes. These data, as well as our direct estimate of the stellar mass function above M * h 2 = 10 10 M⊙ for the spheroidal subclass, consistently evidence a progressive dearth of such objects to occur starting at z ∼ 0.7, paralleled by an increase in luminosity. A similar trend, with a more modest decrease of the mass function, is also shared by spiral galaxies, while the irregulars/mergers show an increased incidence at higher z. Remarkably, this decrease of the comoving density with redshift of the total population appears to depend on galaxy mass, being stronger for moderate-mass, but almost absent until z = 1.4 for high-mass galaxies, thus confirming previous evidence for a "downsizing" effect in galaxy formation. Our favoured interpretation of the evolutionary trends for the two galaxy categories is that of a progressive morphological transformation (due to gas exhaustion and, likely, merging) from the star-forming to the passively evolving phase, starting at z ≥ 2 and keeping on down to z ∼ 0.7. The rate of this process appears to depend on galaxy mass, being already largely settled by z ∼ 1 for the most massive systems.
The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: Near Infrared Galaxy Luminosity Functions
Monthly Notices of The Royal Astronomical Society, 2000
We combine the 2MASS extended source catalogue and the 2dF galaxy redshift survey to produce an infrared-selected galaxy catalogue with 17,173 measured redshifts. We use this extensive dataset to estimate the galaxy luminosity functions in the Jand K S -bands. The luminosity functions are fairly well fit by Schechter functions with parameters M ⋆ J − 5 log h = −22.36 ± 0.02, α J = −0.93 ± 0.04, Φ ⋆ J = 0.0104 ± 0.0016h 3 Mpc −3 in the J-band and M ⋆ KS − 5 log h = −23.44 ± 0.03, α KS = −0.96 ± 0.05, Φ ⋆ KS = 0.0108 ± 0.0016h 3 Mpc −3 in the K S -band (2MASS Kron magnitudes). These parameters are derived assuming a cosmological model with Ω 0 = 0.3 and Λ 0 = 0.7. With datasets of this size, systematic rather than random errors are the dominant source of uncertainty in the determination of the luminosity function. We carry out a careful investigation of possible systematic effects in our data. The surface brightness distribution of the sample shows no evidence that significant numbers of low surface brightness or compact galaxies are missed by the survey. We estimate the present-day distributions of b J −K S and J−K S colours as a function of absolute magnitude and use models of the galaxy stellar populations, constrained by the observed optical and infrared colours, to infer the galaxy stellar mass function. Integrated over all galaxy masses, this yields a total mass fraction in stars (in units of the critical mass density) of Ω stars h = (1.6 ± 0.24) × 10 −3 for a Kennicutt IMF and Ω stars h = (2.9 ± 0.43) × 10 −3 for a Salpeter IMF. These values are consistent with those inferred from observational estimates of the total star formation history of the universe provided that dust extinction corrections are modest.