No Arabic abstract
We use 3035 Herschel-SPIRE 500$mu$m sources from 20.3 sq deg of sky in the HerMES Lockman, ES1 and XMM-LSS areas to estimate the star-formation rate density at z = 1-6. 500 mu sources are associated first with 350 and 250 mu sources, and then with Spitzer 24 mu sources from the SWIRE photometric redshift catalogue. The infrared and submillimetre data are fitted with a set of radiative-transfer templates corresponding to cirrus (quiescent) and starburst galaxies. Lensing candidates are removed via a set of colour-colour and colour-redshift constraints. Star-formation rates are found to extend from < 1 to 20,000 Mo/yr. Such high values were also seen in the all-sky IRAS Faint Source Survey. Star-formation rate functions are derived in a series of redshift bins from 0-6, combined with earlier far-infrared estimates, where available, and fitted with a Saunders et al (1990) functional form. The star-formation-rate density as a function of redshift is derived and compared with other estimates. There is reasonable agreement with both infrared and ultraviolet estimates for z < 3, but we find higher star-formation-rate densities than ultraviolet estimates at z = 3-6. Given the considerable uncertainties in the submillimetre estimates, we can not rule out the possibility that the ultraviolet estimates are correct. But the possibility that the ultraviolet estimates have seriously underestimated the contribution of dust-shrouded star-formation can also not be excluded.
We provide a systematic measurement of the rest-frame UV continuum slope beta over a wide range in redshift (z~2-6) and rest-frame UV luminosity (0.1-2L*) to improve estimates of the SFR density at high redshift. We utilize the deep optical and infrared data (ACS/NICMOS) over the CDF-S and HDF-N GOODS fields, as well as the UDF for our primary UBVi dropout sample. We correct the observed distributions for selection biases and photometric scatter. We find that the UV-continuum slope of the most luminous galaxies is substantially redder at z~2-4 than it is at z~5-6. Lower luminosity galaxies are also found to be bluer than higher luminosity galaxies at z~2.5 and z~4. We do not find a large number of galaxies with betas as red as -1 in our dropout selections at z~4, and particularly at z>~5, even though such sources could be readily selected from our data. This suggests that star-forming galaxies at z>~5 almost universally have very blue UV-continuum slopes, and that there are not likely to be a substantial number of dust-obscured galaxies at z>~5 that are missed in dropout searches. Using the same relation between UV-continuum slope and dust extinction as found to be appropriate at z~0 and z~2, we estimate the average dust extinction of galaxies as a function of redshift and UV luminosity in a consistent way. We find that the estimated dust extinction increases substantially with cosmic time for the most UV luminous galaxies, but remains small (<~2x) at all times for lower luminosity galaxies. Because these same lower luminosity galaxies dominate the luminosity density in the UV, the overall dust extinction correction remains modest at all redshifts. We include the contribution from ULIRGs in our SFR density estimates at z~2-6, but find that they contribute only ~20% of the total at z~2.5 and <~10% at z>~4.
We present the evolution of the comoving SFR density in the redshift range 0 < z < 5 using the first epoch data release of the VVDS, that is 11564 spectra selected at I_AB=24 over 2200 arcmin^2 in two fields of view, the VVDS-0226-04 and the VVDS-CDFS-0332-27, and the cosmological parameters (Omega_M, Omega_L, h)=(0.3, 0.7, 0.7). We study the multi-wavelength non dust-corrected luminosity densities at 0 < z < 2 from the rest-frame FUV to the optical passbands, and the rest-frame 1500A luminosity functions and densities at 2.7 < z < 5. They evolve from z=1.2 to 0.05 according to (1+z)^{x} with x = 2.05, 1.94, 1.92, 1.14, 0.73, 0.42, 0.30 in the FUV-1500, NUV-2800, U-3600, B-4400, V-5500, R-6500, and I-7900 passbands, respectively. From z = 1.2 to 0.2 the B-band density for the irregular-like galaxies decreases markedly by a factor 3.5 while it increases by a factor 1.7 for the elliptical-like galaxies. We identify several SFR periods; from z = 5 to 3.4 the FUV-band density increases by at most 0.5dex, from z=3.4 to 1.2 it decreases by 0.08dex, from z=1.2 to 0.05 it declines steadily by 0.6dex. For the most luminous M_AB(1500) < -21 galaxies the FUV-band density drops by 2dex from z = 3.9 to 1.2, and for the intermediate -21 < M_AB(1500) < -20 galaxies it drops by 2dex from z = 0.2 to 0. Comparing with dust corrected surveys, at 0.4 < z < 2 the FUV seems obscured by a constant factor of ~1.8-2 mag, while at z < 0.5 it seems progressively less obscured by up to ~0.9-1 mag when the dust-deficient early-type population is increasingly dominating the B-band density. The VVDS results agree with a downsizing picture where the most luminous sources cease to efficiently produce new stars 12 Gyrs ago (at z~4), while intermediate luminosity sources keep producing stars until 2.5 Gyrs ago (at z~0.2).(abridged)
Recent analysis of strongly-lensed sources in the Hubble Frontier Fields indicates that the rest-frame UV luminosity function of galaxies at $z=$6--8 rises as a power law down to $M_mathrm{UV}=-15$, and possibly as faint as -12.5. We use predictions from a cosmological radiation hydrodynamic simulation to map these luminosities onto physical space, constraining the minimum dark matter halo mass and stellar mass that the Frontier Fields probe. While previously-published theoretical studies have suggested or assumed that early star formation was suppressed in halos less massive than $10^9$--$10^{11} M_odot$, we find that recent observations demand vigorous star formation in halos at least as massive as (3.1, 5.6, 10.5)$times10^9 M_odot$ at $z=(6,7,8)$. Likewise, we find that Frontier Fields observations probe down to stellar masses of (8.1, 18, 32)$times10^6 M_odot$; that is, they are observing the likely progenitors of analogues to Local Group dwarfs such as Pegasus and M32. Our simulations yield somewhat different constraints than two complementary models that have been invoked in similar analyses, emphasizing the need for further observational constraints on the galaxy-halo connection.
We determine the abundance of i-band drop-outs in the recently-released HST/ACS Hubble Ultra Deep Field (UDF). Since the majority of these sources are likely to be z~6 galaxies whose flux decrement between the F775W i-band and F850LP z-band arises from Lyman-alpha absorption, the number of detected candidates provides a valuable upper limit to the unextincted star formation rate at this redshift. We demonstrate that the increased depth of UDF enables us to reach an 8-sigma limiting magnitude of z(AB)=28.5 (equivalent to 1.5/h{70}^2 M_sun/yr at z=6, or 0.1 L*(UV) for the z~3 U-drop population), permitting us to address earlier ambiguities arising from the unobserved form of the luminosity function. We identify 54 galaxies (and only one star) at z(AB)<28.5 with (i-z)>1.3 over the deepest 11arcmin^2 portion of the UDF field. The characteristic luminosity (L*) is consistent with values observed at z~3. The faint end slope (alpha) is less well constrained, but is consistent with only modest evolution. The main change appears to be in the number density (Phi*). Specifically, and regardless of possible contamination from cool stars and lower redshift sources, the UDF data support our previous result that the star formation rate at z~6 was at least x6 LESS than at z~3 (Stanway, Bunker & McMahon 2003). This declining comoving star formation rate (0.005 h{70}M_sun/yr/Mpc^3 at z~6 for a Salpeter IMF) poses an interesting challenge for models which suggest that L>0.1L* star forming galaxies at z~6 reionized the universe. The short-fall in ionizing photons might be alleviated by galaxies fainter than our limit, or a radically different IMF. Alternatively, the bulk of reionization might have occurred at z>>6.
Using a compilation of 25 studies from the literature, we investigate the evolution of the star-forming galaxy (SFG) Main Sequence (MS) in stellar mass and star formation rate (SFR) out to $z sim 6$. After converting all observations to a common set of calibrations, we find a remarkable consensus among MS observations ($sim 0.1$ dex 1$sigma$ interpublication scatter). By fitting for time evolution of the MS in bins of constant mass, we deconvolve the observed scatter about the MS within each observed redshift bins. After accounting for observed scatter between different SFR indicators, we find the width of the MS distribution is $sim 0.2$ dex and remains constant over cosmic time. Our best fits indicate the slope of the MS is likely time-dependent, with our best fit $logtextrm{SFR}(M_*,t) = left(0.84 pm 0.02 - 0.026 pm 0.003 times tright) log M_* - left(6.51 pm 0.24 - 0.11 pm 0.03 times tright)$, with $t$ the age of the Universe in Gyr. We use our fits to create empirical evolutionary tracks in order to constrain MS galaxy star formation histories (SFHs), finding that (1) the most accurate representations of MS SFHs are given by delayed-$tau$ models, (2) the decline in fractional stellar mass growth for a typical MS galaxy today is approximately linear for most of its lifetime, and (3) scatter about the MS can be generated by galaxies evolving along identical evolutionary tracks assuming an initial $1sigma$ spread in formation times of $sim 1.4$ Gyr.