Evolution of the galaxy luminosity function at z < 0.3
Abstract
We measure the redshift-dependent luminosity function and the comoving radial density of galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 1 (SDSS DR1). Both measurements indicate that the apparent number density of bright galaxies increases by a factor ~ 3 as redshift increases from z= 0 to z= 0.3. This result is robust to the assumed cosmology, to the details of the K-correction and to direction on the sky. These observations are most naturally explained by significant evolution in the luminosity and/or number density of galaxies at redshifts z < 0.3. Such evolution is also consistent with the steep number-magnitude counts seen in the Automatic Plate Measuring (APM) Galaxy Survey, without the need to invoke a local underdensity in the galaxy distribution or magnitude scale errors.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- January 2004
- DOI:
- 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07230.x
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/0309429
- Bibcode:
- 2004MNRAS.347..601L
- Keywords:
-
- galaxies: evolution;
- galaxies: luminosity function;
- mass function;
- galaxies: statistics;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 7 pages, 6 figures. MNRAS in press. Minor changes correspond to accepted version of paper