Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2006-11-27
Astrophys.J.667:655-666,2007
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
13 pages, 8 figures, uses REVTeX 4 + emulateapj.cls and apjfonts.sty. Title changed and text revised following referee's comme
Scientific paper
10.1086/521069
We explore the onset of star formation in the early Universe, exploiting the observations of high-redshift Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) and Lyman alpha emitters (LAEs), in the framework of the galaxy formation scenario elaborated by Granato et al. (2004) already successfully tested against the wealth of data on later evolutionary stages. Complementing the model with a simple, physically plausible, recipe for the evolution of dust attenuation in metal poor galaxies we reproduce the luminosity functions (LFs) of LBGs and of LAEs at different redshifts. This recipe yields a much faster increase with galactic age of attenuation in more massive galaxies, endowed with higher star formation rates. These objects have therefore shorter lifetimes in the LAE and LBG phases, and are more easily detected in the dusty submillimeter bright phase. The short UV bright lifetimes of massive objects strongly mitigate the effect of the fast increase of the massive halo density with decreasing redshift, thus accounting for the weaker evolution of the LBG LF, compared to that of the halo mass function, and the even weaker evolution between z~6 and z~3 of the LAE LF. LAEs are on the average expected to be younger, with lower stellar masses, and associated to less massive halos than LBGs. Finally, we show that the intergalactic medium can be completely reionized at redshift z~6-7 by massive stars shining in protogalactic spheroids with halo masses from a few 10^10 to a few 10^11 M_sun, showing up as faint LBGs with magnitude in the range -17
Danese Lugi
de Zotti Gianfranco
Granato Gian Luigi
Lapi Andrea
Mao Jiafu
No associations
LandOfFree
The Role of the Dust in Primeval Galaxies: A Simple Physical Model for Lyman Break Galaxies and Lyman Alpha Emitters does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with The Role of the Dust in Primeval Galaxies: A Simple Physical Model for Lyman Break Galaxies and Lyman Alpha Emitters, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Role of the Dust in Primeval Galaxies: A Simple Physical Model for Lyman Break Galaxies and Lyman Alpha Emitters will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-22801