The ESO-Sculptor Survey: Evolution of late-type galaxies at redshifts 0.1-0.5

Abstract

[ABRIDGED] Using the Gaussian+Schechter composite luminosity functions measured from the ESO-Sculptor Survey (de Lapparent et al. 2003), we obtain evidence for evolution in the late spectral class containing late-type Spiral (Sc+Sd) and dwarf Irregular (dI) galaxies. This evolution is detected as an increase of the Sc+Sd+dI galaxy density which can be modeled as either n(z)~1+3(z-0.15) or n(z) ~ (1+z)^2 using the currently favored cosmological parameters Omega_m=0.3 and Omega_Lambda=0.7, with an uncertainty in both evolution rates of order of unity. For Omega_m=1.0 and Omega_Lambda=0.0, the linear and power-law evolution rates are 4 and 2.5 resp. Both models yield a good match to the ESS BVRc redshift distributions to 21-22 mag and to the number-counts to 23-23.5 mag, which probe the galaxy distribution to redshifts z~0.5 and z~1.0 resp. This analysis illustrates how Gaussian+Schechter composite luminosity functions provide more robust constraints on the evolution rate than pure Schechter functions. The detected density evolution indicates that mergers could play a significant role in the evolution of late-type Spiral and dwarf Irregular galaxies. However, the ESO-Sculptor density increase with redshift could also be caused by a ~1 mag brightening of the Sc+Sd+dI galaxies at z~0.5 and a ~1.5-2.0 mag brightening at z~1, which is compatible with the expected passive brightening of Sc galaxies at these redshifts. Distinguishing between luminosity and density evolution is a major difficulty as these produce the same effect on the redshift and magnitude distributions. The detected evolution rate of the ESO-Sculptor Sc+Sd+dI galaxies is nevertheless among the range of measured values from the other existing analyses, whether they provide evidence for density or luminosity evolution.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in A&A - 25 Pages, 16 color figures, A&A Latex macro

References in corpus (64)

• Observational Evidence from Supernovae for an Accelerating Universe and a Cosmological Constant
• Measurements of Omega and Lambda from 42 High-Redshift Supernovae
• The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: Spectra and redshifts
• Cosmological Results from High-z Supernovae
• The CANADA-FRANCE REDSHIFT SURVEY XIII: The luminosity density and star-formation history of the Universe to z ~ 1
• The Hubble Deep Field: Observations, Data Reduction, and Galaxy Photometry
• Measuring and Modelling the Redshift Evolution of Clustering: the Hubble Deep Field North
• The Luminosity Function of Galaxies in SDSS Commissioning Data
• Galaxy Clustering in Early SDSS Redshift Data
• Galaxy morphology to I=25 mag in the Hubble Deep Field
• The Las Campanas Redshift Survey
• Science Objectives and Early Results of the DEEP2 Redshift Survey
• The CANADA-FRANCE REDSHIFT SURVEY VI: Evolution of the galaxy luminosity function to z ~ 1
• The COMBO-17 Survey: Evolution of the Galaxy Luminosity Function from 25,000 Galaxies with 0.2<z<1.2
• K and evolutionary corrections from UV to IR
• Autofib Redshift Survey - I. Evolution of the Galaxy Luminosity Function
• Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the CFRS and LDSS redshift surveys - IV. Influence of mergers in the evolution of faint field galaxies from z~1
• The Luminosity Function of Galaxies in the Las Campanas Redshift Survey
• The Stromlo-APM Redshift Survey II. Variation of Galaxy Clustering with Morphology and Luminosity
• Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the CFRS and LDSS redshift surveys II: Structural parameter and the evolution of disk galaxies to z=1
• Evolution of the Galaxy Population Based on Photometric Redshifts in the Hubble Deep Field
• The CNOC2 Field Galaxy Luminosity Function I: A Description of Luminosity Function Evolution
• The morphological identification of the rapidly evolving population of faint galaxies
• HST imaging of CFRS and LDSS galaxies - I: Morphological Properties
• Galaxy number counts - V. Ultra-deep counts: The Herschel and Hubble Deep Fields
• The faint end of the galaxy luminosity function
• The K20 survey. V The evolution of the near-IR Luminosity Function
• Morphological number-count and redshift distributions to I < 26 from the Hubble Deep Field: Implications for the evolution of Ellipticals, Spirals and Irregulars
• The luminosity function of the Virgo Cluster from M_B=-22 to M_B=-11
• The Luminosity Function of IRAS PSCz Galaxies
• Pure Luminosity Evolution models for faint field galaxy samples
• Galaxy Populations and Evolution in Clusters II: Defining Cluster Populations
• Estimating Galaxy Luminosity Functions
• Autofib Redshift Survey: II -- The Evolution of the Galaxy Luminosity Function by Spectral Type
• Caltech Faint Galaxy Redshift Survey XVI: The Luminosity Function for Galaxies in the Region of the HDF-North to z = 1.5
• The CANADA-FRANCE REDSHIFT SURVEY XI: Morphology of high-redshift field galaxies from high-resolution ground-based imaging
• The Century Survey: A Deeper Slice of the Universe
• Near Infrared Faint Galaxies in the Subaru Deep Field: Comparing the Theory with Observations for Galaxy Counts, Colors, and Size Distributions to K=24.5
• Resurrection of Traditional Luminosity Evolution Models to Explain Faint Field Galaxies
• Subaru Deep Survey III. Evolution of Rest-Frame Luminosity Functions Based on the Photometric Redshifts for A K'-band Selected Galaxy Sample
• The Luminosity Distribution of Local Group Galaxies
• The ESO-Sculptor Survey: Luminosity functions of galaxies per spectral type at redshifts 0.1-0.5
• Unavoidable Selection Effects in the Analysis of Faint Galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field: Probing the Cosmology and Merger History of Galaxies
• Galaxy Number Counts in the Subaru Deep Field: Multi-band Analysis in a Hierarchical Galaxy Formation Model
• The Luminosity Function of Field Galaxies in the CNOC1 Redshift Survey
• Critical analysis of the luminosity functions per galaxy type measured from redshift surveys
• A Deep Multicolor Survey. VI. Near-Infrared Observations, Selection Effects, and Number Counts
• Does the Number Density of Elliptical Galaxies Change at z<1?
• The Morphologically Divided Redshift Distribution of Faint Galaxies
• The Luminosity Function Of Field Galaxies And Its Evolution Since z=1
• On the Luminosity Function of Early--Type Galaxies
• Counter-Evolution of Faint Field Galaxies
• Evolution of the Luminosity Density in the Universe: Implications for the Nonzero Cosmological Constant
• The Norris Survey of the Corona Borealis Supercluster: II. Galaxy Evolution with Redshift and Environment
• Galaxy number counts in the Hubble Deep Field as a strong constraint on a hierarchical galaxy formation model
• The ESO-Sculptor Faint Galaxy Redshift Survey: The Photometric Sample
• Constraints on Cosmological Parameters from the Lyman-alpha Forest Power Spectrum and COBE-DMR
• The star formation history as a function of type: constraints from galaxy counts
• The z=0 Galaxy Luminosity Function: I. Techniques for Identification of Dwarf Galaxies at ~10 Mpc
• Luminosity Functions And Evolution Of Blue Galaxies In A Deep Multicolor CCD Field Survey
• Dwarf Galaxies with Gentle Star Formation and the Counts of Galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field
• Modelling the Deep Counts: Luminosity Evolution, Dust and Faint Galaxies
• Faint field galaxies: an explanation of the faint blue excess using number evolution models
• The Evolution of Ellipticals, Spirals and Irregulars: Overcoming Selection Bias

Cited by in corpus (9)

• Fueling Low-Level AGN Activity Through the Stochastic Accretion of Cold Gas
• The VIMOS VLT Deep Survey - Evolution of the luminosity functions by galaxy type up to z=1.5 from first epoch data
• The Local Universe as Seen in Far-Infrared and in Far-Ultraviolet: A Global Point of View on the Local Recent Star Formation
• Low Surface Brightness Galaxies in the SDSS: the link between environment, star-forming properties and AGN
• Bivariate Galaxy Luminosity Functions in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• The Faint End Slopes Of Galaxy Luminosity Functions In The COSMOS 2-Square Degree Field
• Cosmic star formation rate: a theoretical approach
• The 12um ISO-ESO-Sculptor and 24um Spitzer faint counts reveal a population of ULIRG/AGN/dusty massive ellipticals Evolution by types and cosmic star formation
• Spatial clustering in the ESO-Sculptor Survey: two-point correlation functions by galaxy type at redshifts 0.1 - 0.5