Galaxy and Mass assembly (GAMA) : maximum-likelihood determination of the luminosity function and its evolution
Abstract
We describe modifications to the joint stepwise maximum-likelihood method of Cole in order to simultaneously fit the Galaxy and Mass Assembly II galaxy luminosity function (LF), corrected for radial density variations, and its evolution with redshift. The whole sample is reasonably well fitted with luminosity (Qe) and density (Pe) evolution parameters Qe, Pe ≈ 1.0, 1.0 but with significant degeneracies characterized by Qe ≈ 1.4 − 0.4Pe. Blue galaxies exhibit larger luminosity density evolution than red galaxies, as expected. We present the evolution-corrected r-band LF for the whole sample and for blue and red subsamples, using both Petrosian and Sérsic magnitudes. Petrosian magnitudes miss a substantial fraction of the flux of de Vaucouleurs profile galaxies: the Sérsic LF is substantially higher than the Petrosian LF at the bright end.
Citation
Loveday , J , Norberg , P , Baldry , I K , BaldryBland-Hawthorn , J , Brough , S , Brown , M J I , Driver , S P , Kelvin , L S & Phillipps , S 2015 , ' Galaxy and Mass assembly (GAMA) : maximum-likelihood determination of the luminosity function and its evolution ' , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , vol. 451 , no. 2 , pp. 1540-1552 . https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv1013
Publication
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0035-8711Type
Journal article
Rights
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. © 2015 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Description
JL acknowledges support from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (grant number ST/I000976/1) and illuminating discussions with Shaun Cole. PN acknowledges the support of the Royal Society through the award of a University Research Fellowship, the European Research Council, through receipt of a Starting Grant (DEGAS-259586) and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/L00075X/1).Collections
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