The Ultraviolet Luminosity Density of the Universe from Photometric Redshifts of Galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field

Abstract

Studies of the Hubble Deep Field (HDF) and other deep surveys have revealed an apparent peak in the ultraviolet (UV) luminosity density, and therefore the star formation rate density, of the universe at redshifts 1<z<2. We use photometric redshifts of galaxies in the HDF to determine the comoving UV luminosity density, and we find that, when errors (in particular, sampling error) are properly accounted for, a flat distribution is statistically indistinguishable from a distribution peaked at z~=1.5. Furthermore, we examine the effects of cosmological surface brightness (SB) dimming on these measurements by applying a uniform SB cut to all galaxy fluxes after correcting them to redshift z=5. We find that, when comparing all galaxies at the same intrinsic surface brightness sensitivity, the UV luminosity density contributed by high intrinsic SB regions increases by almost 2 orders of magnitude from z~=0 to z~=5. This suggests that there exists a population of objects with very high star formation rates at high redshifts that apparently do not exist at low redshifts. The peak of star formation, then, likely occurs somewhere beyond z>2.

Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

Based in part on observations with the KPNO 4 m Mayall Telescope of NOAO, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the NSF.