Observing the first galaxies

Abstract

I endeavour to provide a thorough overview of our current knowledge of high-redshift galaxies and their evolution during the first billion years of cosmic time, corresponding to redshifts z > 5. After first summarizing progress with the seven different techniques which have been used to date in the discovery of objects at z > 5, I focus thereafter on the two selection methods which have yielded substantial samples of galaxies at early times, namely Lyman-break and Lyman-alpha selection. I discuss a decade of progress in galaxy sample selection at z ~ 5 - 8, including issues of completeness and contamination, and address some of the confusion which has been created by erroneous reports of extreme-redshift objects. Next I provide an overview of our current knowledge of the evolving ultraviolet continuum and Lyman-alpha galaxy luminosity functions at z ~ 5 - 8, and discuss what can be learned from exploring the relationship between the Lyman-break and Lyman-alpha selected populations. I then summarize what is known about the physical properties of these galaxies in the young universe, before considering the wider implications of this work for the cosmic history of star formation, and for the reionization of the universe. I conclude with a brief summary of the exciting prospects for further progress in this field in the next 5-10 years. Throughout, key concepts such as selection techniques and luminosity functions are explained assuming essentially no prior knowledge. The intention is that this chapter can be used as an introduction to the observational study of high-redshift galaxies, as well as providing a review of the latest results in this fast-moving research field up to the end of 2011.

Book Chapter, providing a thorough review of current knowledge of galaxies at redshifts z > 5. 71 pages, 28 figures, 314 references. To appear in "The First Galaxies - Theoretical Predictions and Observational Clues", 2012 by Springer, eds. V. Bromm, B. Mobasher, T. Wiklind (minor typos fixed)

References in corpus (66)

• The UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS)
• Star Formation in AEGIS Field Galaxies since z=1.1 : The Dominance of Gradually Declining Star Formation, and the Main Sequence of Star-Forming Galaxies
• The Supernova -- Gamma-Ray Burst Connection
• Cold streams in early massive hot haloes as the main mode of galaxy formation
• A luminous quasar at a redshift of z = 7.085
• The Hubble Ultra Deep Field
• Observational constraints on Cosmic Reionization
• UV Luminosity Functions at z~4, 5, and 6 from the HUDF and other Deep HST ACS Fields: Evolution and Star Formation History
• The Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS). IV. Evolution of Lya Emitters from z=3.1 to 5.7 in the 1 deg^2 Field: Luminosity Functions and AGN
• Subaru Deep Survey V. A Census of Lyman Break Galaxies at z=4 and 5 in the Subaru Deep Fields: Photometric Properties
• Size evolution of the most massive galaxies at 1.7<z<3 from GOODS NICMOS survey imaging
• Distant Radio Galaxies and their Environments
• The End of the Reionization Epoch Probed by Ly-alpha Emitters at z=6.5 in the Subaru Deep Field
• The observed ionization rate of the intergalactic medium and the ionizing emissivity at z >5: Evidence for a photon starved and extended epoch of reionization
• Toward a Unification of Star Formation Rate Determinations in the Milky Way and Other Galaxies
• The GOODS-MUSIC sample: a multicolour catalog of near-IR selected galaxies in the GOODS-South field
• The Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS) - II. Optical Imaging and Photometric Catalogs
• The Direct Detection of Lyman-Continuum Emission from Star-forming Galaxies at z~3
• A massive proto-cluster of galaxies at a redshift of z {\approx} 5.3
• A galaxy at a redshift z = 6.96
• z~7-10 Galaxies in the HUDF and GOODS fields, and their UV Luminosity Functions
• Studying Reionization with Ly-alpha Emitters
• Keeping the Universe ionised: Photo-heating and the clumping factor of the high-redshift intergalactic medium
• The Massive Hosts of Radio Galaxies Across Cosmic Time
• Connecting the Gamma Ray Burst Rate and the Cosmic Star Formation History: Implications for Reionization and Galaxy Evolution
• The Evolution of Stellar Mass and the Implied Star Formation History
• Star formation at z=1.47 from HiZELS: An Hα+[OII] double-blind study
• The Host Galaxies of Swift Dark Gamma-Ray Bursts: Observational Constraints on Highly Obscured and Very High-Redshift GRBs
• The evolution of the near-IR galaxy Luminosity Function and colour bimodality up to z ~ 2 from the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey Early Data Release
• A Massive Molecular Gas Reservoir in the z=5.3 Submillimeter Galaxy AzTEC-3
• The luminosity function, halo masses and stellar masses of luminous Lyman-break galaxies at redshifts 5<z<6
• Physical Properties of Galaxies from z=2-4
• Photometric Redshifts of Galaxies in COSMOS
• CFBDS J005910.90-011401.3: reaching the T-Y Brown Dwarf transition?
• Discovery of a Very Bright Strongly-Lensed Galaxy Candidate at z ~ 7.6
• The Stellar Masses and Star Formation Histories of Galaxies at z ~ 6: Constraints from Spitzer Observations in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey
• The Stellar Mass Density at z~6 from Spitzer Imaging of i-drop Galaxies
• Exploring the substellar temperature regime down to ~550K
• A Population of Massive and Evolved Galaxies at z$\ga$5
• A Hubble & Spitzer Space Telescope Survey for Gravitationally-Lensed Galaxies: Further Evidence for a Significant Population of Low Luminosity Galaxies beyond Redshift Seven
• Lyman Alpha Emitters at Redshift 5.7 in the COSMOS Field
• The UDF05 Follow-up of the HUDF: I. The Faint-End Slope of the Lyman-Break Galaxy Population at z~5
• Optical emission line properties of Narrow Line Seyfert 1s and comparison AGN
• The First Galaxies: Assembly of Disks and Prospects for Direct Detection
• The UDF05 Follow-up of the HUDF: II. Constraints on Reionization from z-dropout Galaxies
• Supernovae in the Subaru Deep Field: An Initial Sample, and Type Ia Rate, out to Redshift 1.6
• Overdensities of Y-dropout Galaxies from the Brightest-of-Reionizing Galaxies Survey: A Candidate Protocluster at Redshift z~8
• A systematic search for very massive galaxies at z > 4
• z~7-10 Galaxies behind Lensing Clusters: Contrast with Field Search Results
• The GLARE Survey II. Faint z=6 Ly-alpha Line Emitters in the HUDF
• Lyman Alpha Emitters and Lyman Break Galaxies: dichotomous twins?
• Detection of GRB 060927 at z = 5.47: Implications for the Use of Gamma-Ray Bursts as Probes of the End of the Dark Ages
• A photometric survey for Lyalpha-HeII dual emitters: Searching for Population III stars in high-redshift galaxies
• No evidence for dust extinction in GRB 050904 at z ~ 6.3
• The discovery of a significant sample of massive galaxies at redshifts 5 < z < 6 in the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey Early Data Release
• A narrow-band search for Ly alpha emitting galaxies at z = 8.8
• On Contamination and Completeness in z>5 Lyman Break Galaxy Surveys
• High-redshift Ly alpha emitters with a large equivalent width: Properties of i-dropout galaxies with an NB921-band depression in the Subaru Deep Field
• A Limit on the Number Density of Bright z~7 Galaxies
• A Lyman Break Galaxy Candidate at z~9
• Search for z~7 Ly-alpha emitters with Suprime-Cam at the Subaru Telescope
• Search for z~6.96 Ly-alpha emitters with Magellan/IMACS in the COSMOS field
• Keck Spectroscopy of Lyman-break Galaxies and its Implications for the UV-continuum and Ly_alpha Luminosity Functions at z>6
• M-Dwarfs at Large Heliocentric Distances
• Deep UV Luminosity Functions at the Infall Region of the Coma Cluster
• The search for Population III stars

Cited by in corpus (28)

• The evolution of the galaxy UV luminosity function at redshifts z ~ 8-15 from deep JWST and ground-based near-infrared imaging
• The bright end of the galaxy luminosity function at z ~ 7: before the onset of mass quenching?
• Star-forming galaxies as the origin of diffuse high-energy backgrounds: Gamma-ray and neutrino connections, and implications for starburst history
• New redshift z ~ 9 galaxies in the Hubble Frontier Fields: Implications for early evolution of the UV luminosity density
• Deep into the structure of the first galaxies: SERRA views
• Zooming on the internal structure of $z\simeq 6$ galaxies
• Parameter constraints from cross-correlation of CMB lensing with galaxy clustering
• The ALMA REBELS Survey: the dust content of $z\sim 7$ Lyman Break Galaxies
• The Luminosity Function at z~8 from 97 Y-band dropouts: Inferences About Reionization
• The galaxy UV luminosity function at z ~ 2 - 4; new results on faint-end slope and the evolution of luminosity density
• The ALMA REBELS Survey. Epoch of Reionization giants: properties of dusty galaxies at $z\approx 7$
• A survey of high-$z$ galaxies: SERRA simulations
• The abundance of $z\gtrsim 10$ galaxy candidates in the HUDF using deep JWST NIRCam medium-band imaging
• Looking at cosmic near-infrared background radiation anisotropies
• Massive black hole binaries in LISA: multimessenger prospects and electromagnetic counterparts
• The SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey: galaxies in the deep 850-micron survey, and the star-forming `main sequence'
• Radiation Hydrodynamical Simulations of the First Quasars
• How robustly can we constrain the low-mass end of the $z\sim 6-7$ stellar mass function? -- The limits of lensing models and stellar population assumptions in the Hubble Frontier Fields
• Discovery of 24 radio-bright quasars at $4.9\le z\le 6.6$ using low-frequency radio observations
• The ALMA REBELS Survey: The First Infrared Luminosity Function Measurement at $\mathbf{z \sim 7}
• Stars and gas in the most metal-poor galaxies I: COS and MUSE observations of SBS 0335-052E
• Simulating JWST deep extragalactic imaging surveys and physical parameter recovery
• Density modulated star formation efficiency: implications for the observed abundance of ultra-violet luminous galaxies at z>10
• Simulating JWST/NIRCam Color Selection of High-Redshift Galaxies
• Maximising the power of deep extragalactic imaging surveys with the James Webb Space Telescope
• Identifying Lyα emitter candidates with Random Forest: learning from galaxies in CANDELS survey
• The correlation of high-redshift galaxies with the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect traces reionization
• Cloudy with a chance of starshine: Possible photometric signatures of nebular-dominated emission in $1.5<z<8.5$ JADES galaxies