The Galaxy Luminosity Function and Luminosity Density at Redshiftz= 0.1

Abstract

Using a catalog of 147,986 galaxy redshifts and fluxes from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), we measure the galaxy luminosity density at z ¼ 0:1 in five optical bandpasses corresponding to the SDSS bandpasses shifted to match their rest-frame shape at z ¼ 0:1. We denote the bands 0.1 u, 0.1 g, 0.1 r, 0.1 i, 0.1 z with eff ¼ ð3216; 4240; 5595; 6792; 8111 GÞ, respectively. To estimate the luminosity function, we use a maximum likelihood method that allows for a general form for the shape of the luminosity function, fits for simple luminosity and number evolution, incorporates the flux uncertainties, and accounts for the flux limits of the survey. We find luminosity densities at z ¼ 0:1 expressed in absolute AB magnitudes in a Mpc 3 to be (À14:10 AE 0:15, À15:18 AE 0:03, À15:90 AE 0:03, À16:24 AE 0:03, À16:56 AE 0:02) in ( 0.1 u, 0.1 g, 0.1 r, 0.1 i, 0.1 z), respectively, for a cosmological model with 0 ¼ 0:3, à ¼ 0:7, and h ¼ 1 and using SDSS Petrosian magnitudes. Similar results are obtained using Sérsic model magnitudes, suggesting that flux from outside the Petrosian apertures is not a major correction. In the 0.1 r band, the best-fit Schechter function to our results has à ¼ ð1:49 AE 0:04Þ Â 10 À2 h 3 Mpc À3 , M à À 5 log 10 h ¼ À20:44 AE 0:01, and ¼ À1:05 AE 0:01. In solar luminosities, the luminosity density in 0.1 r is ð1:84 AE 0:04Þ Â 10 8 h L 0:1 r; Mpc À3 . Our results in the 0.1 g band are consistent with other estimates of the luminosity density, from the Two-Degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey and the Millennium Galaxy Catalog. They represent a substantial change ($0.5 mag) from earlier SDSS luminosity density results based on commissioning data, almost entirely because of the inclusion of evolution in the luminosity function model.

Flux- and volume-limited groups/clusters for the SDSS galaxies: catalogues and mass estimation

“…After the correction, the luminosity functions in various distance intervals are roughly the same. Our estimated evolution corrections for the r-filter is −1.10, which is slightly smaller than given by Blanton et al (2003). one visible galaxy is…”

“…The k-corrections were calculated with the KCORRECT (v4_2) algorithm (Blanton & Roweis 2007). Evolution correction was estimated similarly by Blanton et al (2003) assuming a distance-independent luminosity function. The estimation of the luminosity evolution is described in Appendix B.…”

“…In practice, the luminosity evolution is different for various types of galaxies. For simplicity, Blanton et al (2003) assumed that the luminosity evolution for the SDSS main sample galaxies (a relatively nearby region) can be described using the equation e cor = Qz, where Q is some constant and z is the redshift (Eq. (1) shows how the correction is applied).…”

The Properties of the Circumgalactic Medium in Red and Blue Galaxies: Results From the Cos-Gass+cos-Halos Surveys

“…Although most low-mass galaxies form stars at significant rates, most high-mass galaxies produce stars at negligible levels. This was termed the galaxy color bimodality, defined in terms of "blue" (star-forming) galaxies and "red" (quiescent) galaxies (e.g., Tully et al 1982;Blanton et al 2003;Kauffmann et al 2003;Baldry et al 2004;Brinchmann et al 2004).…”

Star forming galaxies at z≈6 and reionization

“…We take as a starting point the luminosity function for the wellstudied Lyman-break U-dropout population, reported in Steidel et al (1999), which has a characteristic rest-UV luminosity L * 3 = 15 h −2 70 M ⊙ yr −1 and a characteristic comoving number density at z ≈ 3 is Φ * 3 = 0.0014 h 3 70 Mpc −3 mag −1 in our cosmology. The faint end slope of the Schechter function at z ≈ 3 is relatively steep (α = −1.6) compared with α = −1.0 to −1.3 for lower-redshift galaxy samples (e.g., Blanton et al 2003).…”