A physical model for the evolving UV luminosity function of high redshift galaxies and their contribution to the cosmic reionization

Abstract

[Abridged] We present a physical model for the evolution of the ultraviolet (UV) luminosity function (LF) of high-z galaxies taking into account in a self-consistent way their chemical evolution and the associated evolution of dust extinction. The model yields good fits of the UV and Lyman-alpha LFs at z>~2. The weak evolution of both LFs between z=2 and z=6 is explained as the combined effect of the negative evolution of the halo mass function, of the increase with redshift of the star formation efficiency, and of dust extinction. The slope of the faint end of the UV LF is found to steepen with increasing redshift, implying that low luminosity galaxies increasingly dominate the contribution to the UV background at higher and higher redshifts. The observed range of UV luminosities at high-z implies a minimum halo mass capable of hosting active star formation M_crit <~ 10^9.8 M_odot, consistent with the constraints from hydrodynamical simulations. From fits of Lyman-alpha LFs plus data on the luminosity dependence of extinction and from the measured ratios of non-ionizing UV to Lyman-continuum flux density for samples of z=~3 Lyman break galaxies and Lyman-alpha emitters, we derive a simple relationship between the escape fraction of ionizing photons and the star formation rate, impling larger escape fraction for less massive galaxies. Galaxies already represented in the UV LF (M_UV <~ -18) can keep the universe fully ionized up to z=~6, consistent with (uncertain) data pointing to a rapid drop of the ionization degree above z~6. On the other side, the electron scattering optical depth, tau_es, inferred from CMB experiments favor an ionization degree close to unity up to z=~9-10. Consistency with CMB data can be achieved if M_crit =~ 10^8.5 M_odot, implying that the UV LFs extend to M_UV =~ -13, although the corresponding tau_es is still on the low side of CMB-based estimates.

38 pages, 15 figures, Accepted by Astrophysical Journal

References in corpus (154)

• A Universal Density Profile from Hierarchical Clustering
• The chemical composition of the Sun
• Galactic Stellar and Substellar Initial Mass Function
• Planck 2013 results. XVI. Cosmological parameters
• The Dust Content and Opacity of Actively Star-Forming Galaxies
• Nine-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Parameter Results
• Star Formation in the Milky Way and Nearby Galaxies
• Large scale bias and the peak background split
• How Do Galaxies Get Their Gas?
• Galaxy Bimodality due to Cold Flows and Shock Heating
• Cold streams in early massive hot haloes as the main mode of galaxy formation
• Lyman Break Galaxies at z>4 and the Evolution of the UV Luminosity Density at High Redshift
• Radiative transfer in a clumpy universe: IV. New synthesis models of the cosmic UV/X-ray background
• A fundamental relation between mass, SFR and metallicity in local and high redshift galaxies
• The Mass-Metallicity Relation at z~2
• AMAZE. I. The evolution of the mass-metallicity relation at z>3
• A Physical Model for the Co-evolution of QSOs and of their Spheroidal Hosts
• Radiative Transfer in a Clumpy Universe: III. The Nature of Cosmological Ionizing Sources
• Statistics of 207 Lya Emitters at a Redshift Near 7: Constraints on Reionization and Galaxy Formation Models
• The star formation history of mass-selected galaxies in the COSMOS field
• The tumultuous lives of galactic dwarfs and the missing satellites problem
• 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
• Planck 2013 results. XV. CMB power spectra and likelihood
• A Steep Faint-End Slope of the UV Luminosity Function at z~2-3: Implications for the Global Stellar Mass Density and Star Formation in Low Mass Halos
• New Constraints on Cosmic Reionization from the 2012 Hubble Ultra Deep Field Campaign
• Massloss of galaxies due to a UV-background
• UV Luminosity Functions from 132 z~7 and z~8 Lyman-Break Galaxies in the ultra-deep HUDF09 and wide-area ERS WFC3/IR Observations
• The Universality of the Stellar IMF
• The Rest-Frame Optical Properties of z~3 Galaxies
• The Abundance of Star-Forming Galaxies in the Redshift Range 8.5 to 12: New Results from the 2012 Hubble Ultra Deep Field Campaign
• UV-continuum slopes at z~4-7 from the HUDF09+ERS+CANDELS observations: Discovery of a well-defined UV-color magnitude relationship for z>=4 star-forming galaxies
• Subaru Deep Survey V. A Census of Lyman Break Galaxies at z=4 and 5 in the Subaru Deep Fields: Photometric Properties
• Keck Spectroscopy of 3<z<7 Faint Lyman Break Galaxies: The Importance of Nebular Emission in Understanding the Specific Star Formation Rate and Stellar Mass Density
• The Herschel PEP/HerMES Luminosity Function. I: Probing the Evolution of PACS selected Galaxies to z~4
• UV Continuum Slope and Dust Obscuration from z~6 to z~2: The Star Formation Rate Density at High Redshift
• The deepest Herschel-PACS far-infrared survey: number counts and infrared luminosity functions from combined PEP/GOODS-H observations
• The End of the Reionization Epoch Probed by Ly-alpha Emitters at z=6.5 in the Subaru Deep Field
• A new multi-field determination of the galaxy luminosity function at z=7-9 incorporating the 2012 Hubble Ultra Deep Field imaging
• The Evolutionary History of Lyman Break Galaxies Between Redshift 4 and 6: Observing Successive Generations of Massive Galaxies in Formation
• Multi-wavelength Observations of Dusty Star Formation at Low and High Redshift
• The Growth and Structure of Dark Matter Haloes
• CLASH: Three Strongly Lensed Images of a Candidate z ~ 11 Galaxy
• Ly-alpha Emission-Line Galaxies at z = 3.1 in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South
• Galaxies at z~6: The UV Luminosity Function and Luminosity Density from 506 UDF, UDF-Ps, and GOODS i-dropouts
• Evolution of the dusty infrared luminosity function from z=0 to z=2.3 using observations from Spitzer
• Luminosity functions of Lyman-alpha emitters at z=6.5, and z=5.7: evidence against reionization at z=6
• The GALEX-VVDS Measurement of the Evolution of the Far-Ultraviolet Luminosity Density and the Cosmic Star Formation Rate
• New Measurements of the Ionizing Ultraviolet Background over 2 < z < 5 and Implications for Hydrogen Reionization
• New Relationships between Galaxy Properties and Host Halo Mass, and the Role of Feedbacks in Galaxy Formation
• The infrared luminosity function of galaxies at redshifts z=1 and z~2 in the GOODS fields
• A candidate redshift z ~ 10 galaxy and rapid changes in that population at an age of 500 Myr
• A galaxy at a redshift z = 6.96
• Concordance models of reionization: implications for faint galaxies and escape fraction evolution
• The Star Formation Rate Density and Dust Attenuation Evolution over 12 Gyr with the VVDS Surveys
• Ly Alpha Emitters at z=5.7 in the Subaru Deep Field
• z~7-10 Galaxies in the HUDF and GOODS fields, and their UV Luminosity Functions
• Probing the Dawn of Galaxies at z~9-12: New Constraints from HUDF12/XDF and CANDELS Data
• On the redshift-evolution of the Lyman-alpha escape fraction and the dust content of galaxies
• Subaru Deep Survey II. Luminosity Functions and Clustering Properties of Lya Emitters at z=4.86 in the Subaru Deep Field
• Signatures of Cool Gas Fueling a Star-Forming Galaxy at Redshift 2.3
• The UV Luminosity Function of star-forming galaxies via dropout selection at redshifts z ~ 7 and 8 from the 2012 Ultra Deep Field campaign
• Keeping the Universe ionised: Photo-heating and the clumping factor of the high-redshift intergalactic medium
• The UV Galaxy Luminosity Function in the Local Universe from GALEX Data
• Completing the Census of Ly-alpha Emitters at the Reionization Epoch
• A Population of Faint Extended Line Emitters and the Host Galaxies of Optically Thick QSO Absorption Systems
• Galaxies at z = 6 - 9 from the WFC3/IR imaging of the HUDF
• Probing reionization with Lyman-alpha emission lines
• CANDELS: The Contribution of the Observed Galaxy Population to Cosmic Reionization
• An Atlas of z=5.7 and z=6.5 Ly alpha Emitters
• Metallicities and Physical Conditions in Star-forming Galaxies at z~1.0-1.5
• Detections of Lyman Continuum from Star-forming Galaxies at z~3 Through Subaru/Suprime-Cam Narrow-band Imaging
• Quasar Luminosity Functions from Joint Evolution of Black Holes and Host Galaxies
• Herschel-ATLAS Galaxy Counts and High Redshift Luminosity Functions: The Formation of Massive Early Type Galaxies
• Self-regulated reionization
• Measurements of the UV background at 4.6 < z < 6.4 using the quasar proximity effect
• The HETDEX Pilot Survey. II. The Evolution of the Ly-alpha Escape Fraction from the UV Slope and Luminosity Function of 1.9<z<3.8 LAEs
• The Galaxy Luminosity Function during the Reionization Epoch
• Mid- and Far-infrared Luminosity Functions and Galaxy Evolution from Multiwavelength Spitzer Observations up to z~2.5
• On Lyman-limit Systems and the Evolution of the Intergalactic Ionizing Background
• A Refined Estimate of the Ionizing Emissivity from Galaxies at z~3: Spectroscopic Follow-up in the SSA22a Field
• Assembly History and Structure of Galactic Cold Dark Matter Halos
• The Reionization and Galaxy Evolution Probed by z=7 Lyman Alpha Emitters
• Metallicity-Dependent quenching of Star Formation at High Redshift in Small Galaxies
• A Limit from the X-ray Background on the Contribution of Quasars to Reionization
• The Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies Survey: Constraints on the Bright End of the z~8 Luminosity Function
• The Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey: Constraints on the Lyman Continuum Escape Fraction Distribution of Lyman--Break Galaxies at 3.4<z<4.5
• The First Systematic Survey for Lyman Alpha Emitters at z=7.3 with Red-sensitive Subaru/Suprime-Cam
• Ultra-faint Ultraviolet Galaxies at z~2 Behind the Lensing Cluster Abell 1689: the Luminosity Function, Dust Extinction and Star Formation Rate Density
• Cosmic Evolution of Size and Velocity Dispersion for Early Type Galaxies
• A hybrid model for the evolution of galaxies and Active Galactic Nuclei in the infrared
• The Star Formation Rate Function for Redshift z~4-7 Galaxies: Evidence for a Uniform Build-Up of Star-Forming Galaxies During the First 3 Gyr of Cosmic Time
• Keck Deep Fields. II. The UV Galaxy Luminosity Function at z~4, 3, and 2
• The Bright End of the UV Luminosity Function at z~8: New Constraints from CANDELS Data in GOODS-South
• Simulating high-redshift galaxies
• On the Evolutionary History of Stars and their Fossil Mass and Light
• Near-zone sizes and the rest frame extreme ultra-violet spectral index of the highest redshift quasars
• Smoothly-Rising Star Formation Histories During the Reionization Epoch
• HerMES: dust attenuation and star formation activity in UV-selected samples from z~4 to z~1.5
• Gas Clumping in Self-Consistent Reionisation Models
• A physical model for the 0 < z < 8 redshift evolution of the galaxy UV luminosity and stellar mass functions
• Near-Infrared Properties of I-Drop Galaxies in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
• A Luminosity Function of Lyman Alpha Emitting Galaxies at Redshift 4.5
• Lyman Alpha Emitters at Redshift 5.7 in the COSMOS Field
• The Mass-Metallicity-SFR Relation at z >~ 2 with 3D-HST
• The Nature of Sub-millimetre Galaxies in Cosmological Hydrodynamic Simulations
• The escape fraction of ionizing photons from high redshift galaxies from data-constrained reionization models
• The Role of the Dust in Primeval Galaxies: A Simple Physical Model for Lyman Break Galaxies and Lyman Alpha Emitters
• The blue UV slopes of z~4 Lyman break galaxies: implications for the corrected star formation rate density
• Starburst Intensity Limit of Galaxies at z~5-6
• Lyman-alpha line and continuum radiative transfer in a clumpy interstellar medium
• Lyman Alpha Emitters at z=7 in the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey Field: Photometric Candidates and Luminosity Function
• Probing Very Bright End of Galaxy Luminosity Function at z >~ 7 Using Hubble Space Telescope Pure Parallel Observations
• The depletion of gas in high-redshift dwarf galaxies from an inhomogeneous reionization
• Narrowband Lyman-Continuum Imaging of Galaxies at z ~ 2.85
• The First Galaxies: Assembly under Radiative Feedback from the First Stars
• Differential Evolution of the UV Luminosity Function of Lyman Break Galaxies from z~5 to 3
• Galactic Outflows and Photoionization Heating in the Reionization Epoch
• Steep Faint-end Slopes of Galaxy Mass and Luminosity Functions at z>=6 and the Implications for Reionisation
• The evolution of Lyman-break galaxies in CDM
• Constraints on the Ionizing Efficiency of the First Galaxies
• Lyman-alpha Emitters and Lyman-break Galaxies at z=3-6 in Cosmological SPH Simulations
• Chemical evolution in a model for the joint formation of quasars and spheroids
• Candidate z~8-9 Galaxies from WFC3 Imaging
• Faint Lyman-Break galaxies as a crucial test for galaxy formation models
• Lyman Alpha Emitter Evolution in the Reionization Epoch
• Simulating the assembly of galaxies at redshifts z = 6 - 12
• Constraining the Minimum Mass of High-Redshift Galaxies and Their Contribution to the Ionization State of the IGM
• Clustering of sub-millimeter galaxies in a self-regulated baryon collapse model
• Signatures of reionization on Lyman alpha emitters
• Keck Deep Fields. III. Luminosity-dependent Evolution of the Ultraviolet Luminosity and Star Formation Rate Densities at z~4, 3, and 2
• The luminosity function of Ly-alpha emitters at 2.3 < z < 4.6 from integral-field spectroscopy
• A Rest-frame Optical View on z~4 Galaxies I: Color and Age Distributions from Deep IRAC Photometry of the IUDF10 and GOODS Surveys
• Photo-heating and supernova feedback amplify each other's effect on the cosmic star formation rate
• Limits on the luminosity function of Ly-alpha emitters at z = 7.7
• Lyman Alpha Emitters in Hierarchical Galaxy Formation II. UV Continuum Luminosity Function and Equivalent Width Distribution
• Modelling high redshift Lyman-alpha Emitters
• Self-Similar Dynamical Relaxation of Dark Matter Halos in an Expanding Universe
• Chemical enrichment of Damped Lyman Alpha systems as a direct constraint on Population III star formation
• Duty Cycle and the Increasing Star Formation History of z>=6 Galaxies
• A suppressed contribution of low mass galaxies to reionization due to supernova feedback
• Luminous and High Stellar Mass Candidate Galaxies at z ~ 8 Discovered in CANDELS
• The UV colours and dust attenuation of Lyman-break galaxies
• Constraining the Bright-end of the UV Luminosity Function for z ~ 7 - 9 Galaxies: results from CANDELS/GOODS-South
• The galaxies that reionized the Universe
• Bright Lyman-alpha Emitters at z~9: constraints on the luminosity function from HiZELS
• Lyman alpha Luminosity Functions at Redshift z = 4.5
• Statistics of Dark Matter Halos from the Excursion Set Approach
• A Physical Model of Lyman Alpha Emitters
• Star Formation Rate Distributions: Inadequacy of the Schechter Function
• Understanding the redshift evolution of the luminosity functions of Lyman-alpha emitters
• The Effects of X-Ray and UV Background Radiation on the Low-Mass Slope of the Galaxy Mass Function
• Understanding the Observed Evolution of the Galaxy Luminosity Function from z=6-10 in the Context of Hierarchical Structure Formation
• Deep LBT/LUCI Spectroscopy of a Lyman-alpha Emitter Candidate at z ~ 7.7

Cited by in corpus (52)

• PARSEC evolutionary tracks of massive stars up to $350M_{\odot }$ at metallicities 0.0001$\le Z\le$0.04
• Reionization after Planck: The Derived Growth of the Cosmic Ionizing Emissivity now matches the Growth of the Galaxy UV Luminosity Density
• The Dearth of z~10 Galaxies in all HST Legacy Fields -- The Rapid Evolution of the Galaxy Population in the First 500 Myr
• The z = 9-10 galaxy population in the Hubble Frontier Fields and CLASH surveys: The z=9 LF and further evidence for a smooth decline in UV luminosity at z >= 8
• Planck intermediate results. XLVII. Planck constraints on reionization history
• A lack of evolution in the very bright-end of the galaxy luminosity function from z = 8-10
• The galaxy luminosity function at z ~ 6 and evidence for rapid evolution in the bright end from z ~ 7 to 5
• New redshift z ~ 9 galaxies in the Hubble Frontier Fields: Implications for early evolution of the UV luminosity density
• Cosmic reionization after Planck
• The Tiered Radio Extragalactic Continuum Simulation (T-RECS)
• The redshift evolution of escape fraction of hydrogen ionizing photons from galaxies
• Constraints on dark matter scenarios from measurements of the galaxy luminosity function at high redshifts
• The Luminosity Function at z~8 from 97 Y-band dropouts: Inferences About Reionization
• Sciences with the 2.5-meter Wide Field Survey Telescope (WFST)
• Black Hole and Galaxy Coevolution from Continuity Equation and Abundance Matching
• Cosmic reionization after Planck II: contribution from quasars
• Correcting the z~8 Galaxy Luminosity Function for Gravitational Lensing Magnification Bias
• Obscured star-formation in bright z ~ 7 Lyman-break galaxies
• A Minimalist Feedback-Regulated Model for Galaxy Formation During the Epoch of Reionization
• A New Constraint on Reionization from Evolution of the Ly$\alpha$ Luminosity Function at $z\sim 6-7$ Probed by a Deep Census of $z=7.0$ Ly$\alpha$ Emitter Candidates to 0.3 $L^{\ast }$
• Spatially adaptive radiation-hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation during cosmological reionization
• A Lyman-α protocluster at redshift 6.9
• The spectral evolution of the first Galaxies. III. Simulated James Webb Space Telescope spectra of reionization-epoch galaxies with Lyman continuum leakage
• The Ly$\alpha$ Luminosity Function and Cosmic Reionization at $z\sim$ 7.0: a Tale of Two LAGER Fields
• Infrared spectral energy distribution decomposition of WISE-selected, hyperluminous hot dust-obscured galaxies
• The Quest for Dusty Star-forming Galaxies at High Redshift z>4
• A Multi-wavelength Analysis of the Faint Radio Sky (COSMOS-XS): the Nature of the Ultra-faint Radio Population
• An Ultra-deep Multi-band VLA Survey of the Faint Radio Sky (COSMOS-XS): Source Catalog and Number Counts
• Cross-correlating Carbon Monoxide Line-intensity Maps with Spectroscopic and Photometric Galaxy Surveys
• GALLUMI: A Galaxy Luminosity Function Pipeline for Cosmology and Astrophysics
• Cold or Warm? Constraining Dark Matter with Primeval Galaxies and Cosmic Reionization after Planck
• Physical Properties of Spectroscopically-Confirmed Galaxies at $z\ge 6$. III. Stellar Populations from SED Modeling with Secure Ly$\alpha$ Emission and Redshifts
• Predictions for Ultra-Deep Radio Counts of Star-Forming Galaxies
• Does the evolution of the radio luminosity function of star-forming galaxies match that of the star-formation rate function?
• On the statistics of proto-cluster candidates detected in the Planck all-sky survey
• Modelling of Lyman-alpha Emitting Galaxies and Ionized Bubbles at the Era of Reionization
• Strong stellar-driven outflows shape the evolution of galaxies at cosmic dawn
• A Magellan M2FS Spectroscopic Survey of Galaxies at 5.5<z<6.8: Program Overview and a Sample of the Brightest Lyman-alpha Emitters
• Large-scale environment of z~5.7 CIV absorption systems I: projected distribution of galaxies
• Large-scale environment of $z\sim 5.7$ CIV absorption systems -II. Spectroscopy of Lyman-$\alpha$ emitters
• Stellar Mass Function of Active and Quiescent Galaxies via the Continuity Equation
• Galaxy Evolution at High Redshift: Obscured Star Formation, GRB Rates, Cosmic Reionization, and Missing Satellites
• On the impact of large angle CMB polarization data on cosmological parameters
• The bright end of the galaxy luminosity function at $z\simeq 7$ from the VISTA VIDEO survey
• High-Redshift Galaxy Surveys and the Reionization of the Universe
• High-z dusty star-forming galaxies: a top-heavy initial mass function?
• The Composite Spectral Energy Distribution of Quasars is Surprisingly Universal Since Cosmic Noon
• Protoclusters at z=5.7: A view from the MultiDark galaxies
• Interpreting the statistical properties of high-z extragalactic sources detected by the South Pole Telescope survey
• A quantitative assessment of completeness correction methods and public release of a versatile simulation code
• Understanding galaxy formation and evolution through an all-sky submillimetre spectroscopic survey
• Euclid: Discovery of bright $z\simeq 7$ Lyman-break galaxies in UltraVISTA and Euclid COSMOS