Mapping the Dark Matter From UV Light at High Redshift: An Empirical Approach to Understand Galaxy Statistics

Abstract

We present a simple formalism to interpret two galaxy statistics, the UV luminosity function and two-point correlation functions for star-forming galaxies at z~4, 5, 6 in the context of LCDM cosmology. Both statistics are the result of how star formation takes place in DM halos, and thus are used to constrain how UV light depends on halo properties such as mass. The two measures were taken from the GOODS data, thus ideal for joint analysis. The two physical quantities we explore are the SF duty cycle, and the range of L_UV that a halo of mass M can have (mean and variance). The former addresses the typical duration of SF activity in halos while the latter addresses the averaged SF history and regularity of gas inflow into these systems. We explore various physical models consistent with data, and find the following: 1) the typical duration of SF observed in the data is <0.4 Gyr (1 sig), 2) the inferred scaling law between L_UV and halo mass M from the observed slope of the LFs is roughly linear at all redshifts, and 3) L_UV for a fixed halo mass decreases with time, implying that the SF efficiency (after dust extinction) is higher at earlier times. We explore several physical scenarios relating star formation to halo mass, but find that these scenarios are indistinguishable due to the limited range of halo mass probed by our data. In order to discriminate between different scenarios, we discuss constraining the bright-faint galaxy cross-correlation functions and luminosity-dependence of galaxy bias. (Abridged)

24 pages, 16 figures: matches published version -- Astrophysical Journal 695 (2009) 368-390

References in corpus (25)

• Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Three Year Results: Implications for Cosmology
• Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Interpretation
• New Hubble Space Telescope Discoveries of Type Ia Supernovae at z > 1: Narrowing Constraints on the Early Behavior of Dark Energy
• The hierarchical formation of the brightest cluster galaxies
• The Hubble Ultra Deep Field
• Galaxy Evolution from Halo Occupation Distribution Modeling of DEEP2 and SDSS Galaxy Clustering
• UV Luminosity Functions at z~4, 5, and 6 from the HUDF and other Deep HST ACS Fields: Evolution and Star Formation History
• Star formation efficiency in galaxy interactions and mergers: a statistical study
• Rapid formation of exponential disks and bulges at high redshift from the dynamical evolution of clump cluster and chain galaxies
• Subaru Deep Survey V. A Census of Lyman Break Galaxies at z=4 and 5 in the Subaru Deep Fields: Photometric Properties
• Multi-Wavelength Constraints on the Cosmic Star Formation History from Spectroscopy: the Rest-Frame UV, H-alpha, and Infrared Luminosity Functions at Redshifts 1.9<z<3.4
• Assembly bias in the clustering of dark matter haloes
• Effects of Supernova Feedback on the Formation of Galaxy Disks
• The Nearly Universal Merger Rate of Dark Matter Haloes in Lambda-CDM Cosmology
• The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: Color and Luminosity Dependence of Galaxy Clustering at z~1
• Galaxy growth in the concordance $\Lambda$CDM cosmology
• Bursting and Quenching in Massive Galaxies without Major Mergers or AGNs
• Breathing in Low Mass Galaxies: A Study of Episodic Star Formation
• Definitive Identification of the Transition between Small- to Large-Scale Clustering for Lyman Break Galaxies
• Merger Rates of Dark-Matter Haloes
• Differential Evolution of the UV Luminosity Function of Lyman Break Galaxies from z~5 to 3
• The Varied Fates of z~2 Star-forming Galaxies
• Constraints on the merging timescale of luminous red galaxies, or, where do all the halos go?
• GaBoDS: The Garching-Bonn Deep Survey VIII. Lyman-break galaxies in the ESO Deep Public Survey
• The Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS) -VII. Clustering Segregation with Ultraviolet and Optical Luminosities of Lyman-Break Galaxies at z~3