A PHYSICAL MODEL FOR THE EVOLVING ULTRAVIOLET LUMINOSITY FUNCTION OF HIGH REDSHIFT GALAXIES AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE COSMIC REIONIZATION

We present a physical model for the evolution of the ultraviolet (UV) luminosity function of high-redshift galaxies, taking into account in a self-consistent way their chemical evolution and the associated evolution of dust extinction. A strong correlation between dust attenuation and halo/stellar m...

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Published inThe Astrophysical journal Vol. 785; no. 1; pp. 1 - 18
Main Authors Cai, Zhen-Yi, Lapi, Andrea, Bressan, Alessandro, De Zotti, Gianfranco, Negrello, Mattia, Danese, Luigi
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 10.04.2014
Subjects
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
Asymptotic properties
Biological evolution
CORRELATIONS
DENSITY
Dust
DUSTS
EFFICIENCY
EMISSION
EVOLUTION
FLUX DENSITY
GALAXIES
GAS COOLING
LUMINOSITY
LYMAN LINES
MASS
Mathematical models
QUASARS
RED SHIFT
RELICT RADIATION
SIMULATION
STARS
TRANSMISSION
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
UNIVERSE
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Summary:We present a physical model for the evolution of the ultraviolet (UV) luminosity function of high-redshift galaxies, taking into account in a self-consistent way their chemical evolution and the associated evolution of dust extinction. A strong correlation between dust attenuation and halo/stellar mass for UV selected high-z galaxies is thus predicted. The model yields good fits of the UV and Lyman- alpha (Ly alpha ) line luminosity functions at all redshifts at which they have been measured. The slope of the faint end of the UV luminosity function 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. It implies that the escape fraction is larger for low-mass galaxies, which are almost dust-free and have lower gas column densities. Galaxies already represented in the UV luminosity function (M sub(UV) [lap] -18) can keep the universe fully ionized up to z [Asymptotically = to] 6.
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ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/785/1/65