Open AccessThe luminosity function of Lyα emitters at 2.3 < z < 4.6 from integral‐field spectroscopy ★
Author(s) -
Van Breukelen Caroline,
Jarvis Matt J.,
Venemans Bram P.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.08916.x
Subject(s) - physics , astrophysics , redshift , galaxy , star formation , luminosity function , luminosity , hubble deep field , spectroscopy , galaxy formation and evolution , flux (metallurgy) , astronomy , materials science , metallurgy
We have used Visible MultiObject Spectrograph Integral‐Field Unit observations centred on a radio galaxy at z = 2.9 to search for Lyα emitters within a comoving volume of ∼10 4 Mpc 3 . We find 14 Lyα emitters with flux >1.4 × 10 −20 W m −2 , yielding a comoving space density of 0.0018 +0.0006 −0.0005 Mpc −3 . We fit a Schechter luminosity function that agrees well with previous studies both at similar redshift ( z ∼ 3.4) and higher redshift ( z ∼ 5.7) . We therefore find no evidence for evolution in the properties of Lyα emitters between 3 < z < 6 , although our sample is small. By summing the star‐formation rates of the individual Lyα emitters we find a total cosmic star‐formation rate density of ρ SFR = 6.7 ± 0.5 × 10 −3 M ⊙ yr −1 Mpc −3 . Integrating over the luminosity function for the combined Lyα surveys at z ∼ 3.4 and accounting for the difference in obscuration between the Lyα line and the ultraviolet‐continuum yields an estimate of ρ SFR ∼ 2.2 × 10 −2 M ⊙ yr −1 Mpc −3 , in line with previous multi‐colour and narrow‐band surveys of high‐redshift star‐forming galaxies. The detection of high‐redshift emission‐line galaxies in our volumetric search shows that the unique capabilities of wide‐field integral‐field spectroscopy are well suited to searching for high‐redshift galaxies in a relatively unbiased manner.