---
_id: '11524'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: We measure the evolution of the rest-frame UV luminosity function (LF) and
the stellar mass function (SMF) of Lyman-α (Ly α) emitters (LAEs) from z ∼ 2 to
z ∼ 6 by exploring ∼4000 LAEs from the SC4K sample. We find a correlation between
Ly α luminosity (LLy α) and rest-frame UV (MUV), with best fit MUV=−1.6+0.2−0.3log10(LLyα/ergs−1)+47+12−11
and a shallower relation between LLy α and stellar mass (M⋆), with best fit log10(M⋆/M⊙)=0.9+0.1−0.1log10(LLyα/ergs−1)−28+4.0−3.8.
An increasing LLy α cut predominantly lowers the number density of faint MUV and
low M⋆ 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 (Φ*). For the SMF, we measure a characteristic
stellar mass (M∗⋆/M⊙) increase with increasing redshift, and a Φ* decline. However,
if we apply a uniform luminosity cut of log10(LLyα/ergs−1)≥43.0, we find much
milder to no evolution in the UV and SMF of LAEs. The UV luminosity density (ρUV)
of the full sample of LAEs shows moderate evolution and the stellar mass density
(ρM) decreases, with both being always lower than the total ρUV and ρM of more
typical galaxies but slowly approaching them with increasing redshift. Overall,
our results indicate that both ρUV and ρM of LAEs slowly approach the measurements
of continuum-selected galaxies at z > 6, which suggests a key role of LAEs in
the epoch of reionization.
acknowledgement: This research made use of Astropy, a community developed core Python
package for Astronomy (Astropy Collaboration et al. 2013). topcat, a graphical tool
for manipulating tabular data, was also utilized in this analysis (Taylor 2005).
SG would like to thank Nastasha Wijers for the discussion on the column density
distribution in EAGLE. SC gratefully acknowledges support from Swiss National Science
Foundation grants PP00P2 163824 and PP00P2 190092, and from the European Research
Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme
grant agreement No 864361. GP acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science
Foundation (SNF) and from the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA).
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
arxiv: 1
author:
- first_name: S
full_name: Santos, S
last_name: Santos
- first_name: D
full_name: Sobral, D
last_name: Sobral
- first_name: J
full_name: Butterworth, J
last_name: Butterworth
- first_name: A
full_name: Paulino-Afonso, A
last_name: Paulino-Afonso
- first_name: B
full_name: Ribeiro, B
last_name: Ribeiro
- first_name: E
full_name: da Cunha, E
last_name: da Cunha
- first_name: J
full_name: Calhau, J
last_name: Calhau
- first_name: A A
full_name: Khostovan, A A
last_name: Khostovan
- first_name: Jorryt J
full_name: Matthee, Jorryt J
id: 7439a258-f3c0-11ec-9501-9df22fe06720
last_name: Matthee
orcid: 0000-0003-2871-127X
- first_name: P
full_name: Arrabal Haro, P
last_name: Arrabal Haro
citation:
ama: Santos S, Sobral D, Butterworth J, et al. The evolution of the UV luminosity
and stellar mass functions of Lyman-α emitters from z ∼ 2 to z ∼ 6. Monthly
Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 2021;505(1):1117-1134. doi:10.1093/mnras/stab1218
apa: Santos, S., Sobral, D., Butterworth, J., Paulino-Afonso, A., Ribeiro, B., da Cunha,
E., … Arrabal Haro, P. (2021). The evolution of the UV luminosity and stellar
mass functions of Lyman-α emitters from z ∼ 2 to z ∼ 6. Monthly Notices of
the Royal Astronomical Society. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab1218
chicago: Santos, S, D Sobral, J Butterworth, A Paulino-Afonso, B Ribeiro, E da Cunha,
J Calhau, A A Khostovan, Jorryt J Matthee, and P Arrabal Haro. “The Evolution
of the UV Luminosity and Stellar Mass Functions of Lyman-α Emitters from z ∼ 2
to z ∼ 6.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Oxford University
Press, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab1218.
ieee: S. Santos et al., “The evolution of the UV luminosity and stellar mass
functions of Lyman-α emitters from z ∼ 2 to z ∼ 6,” Monthly Notices of the
Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 505, no. 1. Oxford University Press, pp.
1117–1134, 2021.
ista: Santos S, Sobral D, Butterworth J, Paulino-Afonso A, Ribeiro B, da Cunha E,
Calhau J, Khostovan AA, Matthee JJ, Arrabal Haro P. 2021. The evolution of the
UV luminosity and stellar mass functions of Lyman-α emitters from z ∼ 2 to z ∼
6. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 505(1), 1117–1134.
mla: Santos, S., et al. “The Evolution of the UV Luminosity and Stellar Mass Functions
of Lyman-α Emitters from z ∼ 2 to z ∼ 6.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Society, vol. 505, no. 1, Oxford University Press, 2021, pp. 1117–34, doi:10.1093/mnras/stab1218.
short: S. Santos, D. Sobral, J. Butterworth, A. Paulino-Afonso, B. Ribeiro, E. da Cunha,
J. Calhau, A.A. Khostovan, J.J. Matthee, P. Arrabal Haro, Monthly Notices of the
Royal Astronomical Society 505 (2021) 1117–1134.
date_created: 2022-07-07T10:02:59Z
date_published: 2021-07-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2022-08-18T10:51:47Z
day: '01'
doi: 10.1093/mnras/stab1218
extern: '1'
external_id:
arxiv:
- '2105.00007'
intvolume: ' 505'
issue: '1'
keyword:
- Space and Planetary Science
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- 'galaxies: evolution'
- 'galaxies: high-redshift'
- 'galaxies: luminosity function'
- mass function
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
url: https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.00007
month: '07'
oa: 1
oa_version: Preprint
page: 1117-1134
publication: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
publication_identifier:
eissn:
- 1365-2966
issn:
- 0035-8711
publication_status: published
publisher: Oxford University Press
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: The evolution of the UV luminosity and stellar mass functions of Lyman-α emitters
from z ∼ 2 to z ∼ 6
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 505
year: '2021'
...