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The evolution of the UV luminosity and stellar mass functions of Lyman-alpha emitters from z~2 to z~6

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The evolution of the UV luminosity and stellar mass functions of Lyman-alpha emitters from z~2 to z~6. / Santos, Sérgio; Sobral, David; Butterworth, Josh et al.
In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 505, No. 1, 31.07.2021, p. 1117–1134.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Santos, S, Sobral, D, Butterworth, J, Paulino-Afonso, A, Ribeiro, B, Cunha, ED, Calhau, J, Khostovan, AA, Matthee, J & Haro, PA 2021, 'The evolution of the UV luminosity and stellar mass functions of Lyman-alpha emitters from z~2 to z~6', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 505, no. 1, pp. 1117–1134. https://doi.org/doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab1218

APA

Santos, S., Sobral, D., Butterworth, J., Paulino-Afonso, A., Ribeiro, B., Cunha, E. D., Calhau, J., Khostovan, A. A., Matthee, J., & Haro, P. A. (2021). The evolution of the UV luminosity and stellar mass functions of Lyman-alpha emitters from z~2 to z~6. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 505(1), 1117–1134. https://doi.org/doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab1218

Vancouver

Santos S, Sobral D, Butterworth J, Paulino-Afonso A, Ribeiro B, Cunha ED et al. The evolution of the UV luminosity and stellar mass functions of Lyman-alpha emitters from z~2 to z~6. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 2021 Jul 31;505(1):1117–1134. doi: doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab1218

Author

Santos, Sérgio ; Sobral, David ; Butterworth, Josh et al. / The evolution of the UV luminosity and stellar mass functions of Lyman-alpha emitters from z~2 to z~6. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 2021 ; Vol. 505, No. 1. pp. 1117–1134.

Bibtex

@article{96bbc392c129452cbf50feefe4a6ad85,
title = "The evolution of the UV luminosity and stellar mass functions of Lyman-alpha emitters from z~2 to z~6",
abstract = " We measure the evolution of the rest-frame UV luminosity function (LF) and the stellar mass function (SMF) of Lyman-alpha (Lya) emitters (LAEs) from z~2 to z~6 by exploring ~4000 LAEs from the SC4K sample. We find a correlation between Lya luminosity (LLya) and rest-frame UV (M_UV), with best-fit M_UV=-1.6+-0.2 log10(LLya/erg/s)+47+-12 and a shallower relation between LLya and stellar mass (Mstar), with best-fit log10( Mstar/Msun)=0.9+-0.1 log10(LLya/erg/s)-28+-4.0. An increasing LLya cut predominantly lowers the number density of faint M_UV and low Mstar LAEs. We estimate a proxy for the full UV LFs and SMFs of LAEs with simple assumptions of the faint end slope. For the UV LF, we find a brightening of the characteristic UV luminosity (M_UV*) with increasing redshift and a decrease of the characteristic number density (Phi*). For the SMF, we measure a characteristic stellar mass (Mstar*/Msun) increase with increasing redshift, and a Phi* decline. However, if we apply a uniform luminosity cut of log10 (LLya/erg/s) >= 43.0, we find much milder to no evolution in the UV and SMF of LAEs. The UV luminosity density (rho_UV) of the full sample of LAEs shows moderate evolution and the stellar mass density (rho_M) decreases, with both being always lower than the total rho_UV and rho_M of more typical galaxies but slowly approaching them with increasing redshift. Overall, our results indicate that both rho_UV and rho_M of LAEs slowly approach the measurements of continuum-selected galaxies at z>6, which suggests a key role of LAEs in the epoch of reionisation. ",
keywords = "galaxies: evolution, galaxies: high-redshift, galaxies: luminosity function, mass function",
author = "S{\'e}rgio Santos and David Sobral and Josh Butterworth and Ana Paulino-Afonso and Bruno Ribeiro and Cunha, {Elisabete da} and Jo{\~a}o Calhau and Khostovan, {Ali Ahmad} and Jorryt Matthee and Haro, {Pablo Arrabal}",
year = "2021",
month = jul,
day = "31",
doi = "doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab1218",
language = "English",
volume = "505",
pages = "1117–1134",
journal = "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society",
issn = "0035-8711",
publisher = "OXFORD UNIV PRESS",
number = "1",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The evolution of the UV luminosity and stellar mass functions of Lyman-alpha emitters from z~2 to z~6

AU - Santos, Sérgio

AU - Sobral, David

AU - Butterworth, Josh

AU - Paulino-Afonso, Ana

AU - Ribeiro, Bruno

AU - Cunha, Elisabete da

AU - Calhau, João

AU - Khostovan, Ali Ahmad

AU - Matthee, Jorryt

AU - Haro, Pablo Arrabal

PY - 2021/7/31

Y1 - 2021/7/31

N2 - We measure the evolution of the rest-frame UV luminosity function (LF) and the stellar mass function (SMF) of Lyman-alpha (Lya) emitters (LAEs) from z~2 to z~6 by exploring ~4000 LAEs from the SC4K sample. We find a correlation between Lya luminosity (LLya) and rest-frame UV (M_UV), with best-fit M_UV=-1.6+-0.2 log10(LLya/erg/s)+47+-12 and a shallower relation between LLya and stellar mass (Mstar), with best-fit log10( Mstar/Msun)=0.9+-0.1 log10(LLya/erg/s)-28+-4.0. An increasing LLya cut predominantly lowers the number density of faint M_UV and low Mstar LAEs. We estimate a proxy for the full UV LFs and SMFs of LAEs with simple assumptions of the faint end slope. For the UV LF, we find a brightening of the characteristic UV luminosity (M_UV*) with increasing redshift and a decrease of the characteristic number density (Phi*). For the SMF, we measure a characteristic stellar mass (Mstar*/Msun) increase with increasing redshift, and a Phi* decline. However, if we apply a uniform luminosity cut of log10 (LLya/erg/s) >= 43.0, we find much milder to no evolution in the UV and SMF of LAEs. The UV luminosity density (rho_UV) of the full sample of LAEs shows moderate evolution and the stellar mass density (rho_M) decreases, with both being always lower than the total rho_UV and rho_M of more typical galaxies but slowly approaching them with increasing redshift. Overall, our results indicate that both rho_UV and rho_M of LAEs slowly approach the measurements of continuum-selected galaxies at z>6, which suggests a key role of LAEs in the epoch of reionisation.

AB - We measure the evolution of the rest-frame UV luminosity function (LF) and the stellar mass function (SMF) of Lyman-alpha (Lya) emitters (LAEs) from z~2 to z~6 by exploring ~4000 LAEs from the SC4K sample. We find a correlation between Lya luminosity (LLya) and rest-frame UV (M_UV), with best-fit M_UV=-1.6+-0.2 log10(LLya/erg/s)+47+-12 and a shallower relation between LLya and stellar mass (Mstar), with best-fit log10( Mstar/Msun)=0.9+-0.1 log10(LLya/erg/s)-28+-4.0. An increasing LLya cut predominantly lowers the number density of faint M_UV and low Mstar LAEs. We estimate a proxy for the full UV LFs and SMFs of LAEs with simple assumptions of the faint end slope. For the UV LF, we find a brightening of the characteristic UV luminosity (M_UV*) with increasing redshift and a decrease of the characteristic number density (Phi*). For the SMF, we measure a characteristic stellar mass (Mstar*/Msun) increase with increasing redshift, and a Phi* decline. However, if we apply a uniform luminosity cut of log10 (LLya/erg/s) >= 43.0, we find much milder to no evolution in the UV and SMF of LAEs. The UV luminosity density (rho_UV) of the full sample of LAEs shows moderate evolution and the stellar mass density (rho_M) decreases, with both being always lower than the total rho_UV and rho_M of more typical galaxies but slowly approaching them with increasing redshift. Overall, our results indicate that both rho_UV and rho_M of LAEs slowly approach the measurements of continuum-selected galaxies at z>6, which suggests a key role of LAEs in the epoch of reionisation.

KW - galaxies: evolution

KW - galaxies: high-redshift

KW - galaxies: luminosity function

KW - mass function

U2 - doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab1218

DO - doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab1218

M3 - Journal article

VL - 505

SP - 1117

EP - 1134

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

SN - 0035-8711

IS - 1

ER -