Computer Science
Scientific paper
Sep 2003
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003phdt.........1y&link_type=abstract
Thesis (PhD). ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY, Source DAI-B 64/03, p. 1289, Sep 2003, 143 pages.
Computer Science
5
Scientific paper
With the discoveries of a few objects at redshifts (z) higher than 6, the observational boundary of the Universe has been pushed to the epoch when it was less than 1 Gyr old. There are now growing evidences that the reionization, an important event in the evolutionary history of the Universe, ended at around redshift of 6. To obtain a comprehensive picture of the reionization, the luminosity function (LF) of galaxies at this redshift needs to be accessed. In order to achieve this goal, a large sample of galaxies at round redshift of 6 should first be acquired. This dissertation presents a study that aims at systematically constraining the luminosity function of galaxies at z = 6. The study began with an educated guess about this LF by extrapolating from the result at lower redshift, z = 3. Based on this first guess, estimates were made to predict the number densities of galaxies at z = 6 at different brightness levels. Using this prediction, a wide-field survey was designed to constrain the bright-end of the LF. This survey, covering an area of one square-degree, was carried out at the NOAO 4m telescopes with an innovated set of intermediate-band filters. This bright-end survey was also augmented by a set of publicly available data obtained at the 8m Subaru telescope. To constrain the faint-end of the LF, a survey was conducted by using a set of deep parallel data obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) that was recently installed to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). A few dozens of candidates of galaxies at z = 6 were found in these surveys, and they will be used for future studies. Stringent limits to the LF were obtained by statistically using the candidates. These constraints agree well with the earlier prediction, indicating that it is close to the real LF. Furthermore, the result from the faint-end survey suggests that the faint-end slope of the LF could be steeper than what was assumed. As an application, the predicted LF was used to calculate the contribution of galaxies to the reionizing background. It was found that dwarf galaxies could be the major sources that were responsible for the reionization.
No associations
LandOfFree
Probing the luminosity function of galaxies at the epoch of reionization 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 Probing the luminosity function of galaxies at the epoch of reionization, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Probing the luminosity function of galaxies at the epoch of reionization will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1088782