THE LUMINOSITY FUNCTION AT z ∼ 8 FROM 97 Y -BAND DROPOUTS: INFERENCES ABOUT REIONIZATION

We present the largest search to date for Y-band dropout galaxies (z ~ 8 Lyman break galaxies, LBGs) based on 350 arcmin super(2) of Hubble Space Telescope observations in the V, Y, J, and H bands from the Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies (BoRG) survey. We introduce a new Bayesian formalism for esti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2014-05, Vol.786 (1), p.1-19
Main Authors: Schmidt, Kasper B, Treu, Tommaso, TRENTI, MICHELE, Bradley, Larry D, Kelly, Brandon C, Oesch, Pascal A, Holwerda, Benne W, Shull, J Michael, STIAVELLI, MASSIMO
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Approximation
APPROXIMATIONS
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
Bands
Binomials
COSMOLOGY
DENSITY
DISTRIBUTION
Dropouts
EVOLUTION
Formalism
GALAXIES
GAMMA-GAMMA LOGGING
HYDROGEN
LUMINOSITY
LYMAN LINES
PHOTONS
RED SHIFT
SPACE
SPECTROSCOPY
TELESCOPES
Utilities
YTTRIUM 97
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Summary:We present the largest search to date for Y-band dropout galaxies (z ~ 8 Lyman break galaxies, LBGs) based on 350 arcmin super(2) of Hubble Space Telescope observations in the V, Y, J, and H bands from the Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies (BoRG) survey. We introduce a new Bayesian formalism for estimating the galaxy luminosity function, which does not require binning (and thus smearing) of the data and includes a likelihood based on the formally correct binomial distribution as opposed to the often-used approximate Poisson distribution. We demonstrate the utility of the new method on a sample of 97 Y-band dropouts that combines the bright BoRG galaxies with the fainter sources published in Bouwens et al. from the Hubble Ultra Deep Field and Early Release Science programs. The data are consistent with a substantial fraction of neutral hydrogen at z > 7, in agreement with recent suggestions based on deep spectroscopy of z ~ 8 LBGs.
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/786/1/57