The DEEP Groth Strip Survey. X. Number Density and Luminosity Function of Field E/S0 Galaxies atz< 1

Citations Over TimeTop 1% of 2002 papers

Abstract

We present the luminosity function and color-redshift relation of a magnitude-limited sample of 145 mostly red field E/S0 galaxies at z < 1 from the DEEP Groth Strip Survey (GSS). Most of the E/S0s (86%) form a red envelope in the redshift-color diagram, consistent with predictions of spectral synthesis models in which the dominant stellar population is formed at redshifts z > 1.5. Constructing a luminosity function of the full sample of 145 E/S0s, we find that there is about 1.1--1.9 magnitude brightening in rest-frame B band luminosity back to z = 0.8 from z=0, consistent with other studies. Together with the red colors, this brightening favors models in which the bulk of stars in red field E/S0s formed before z_{for} > 1.5 and have been evolving rather quiescently with few large starbursts since then. Evolution in the number density of field E/S0 galaxies is harder to measure, and uncertainties in the raw counts and their ratio to local samples might amount to as much as a factor of two. Within that uncertainty, the number density of red E/S0s to z = 0.8 seems relatively static, being comparable to or perhaps moderately less than that of local E/S0s depending on the assumed cosmology. A doubling of E/S0 number density since z = 1 can be ruled out with high confidence (97%) if \\Omega_{m}=1. Taken together, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that the majority of luminous field E/S0s were already in place by z = 1, that the bulk of their stars were already fairly old, and that their number density has not changed by large amounts since then.

Related Papers

• → Gamma‐Ray Burst Formation Rate Inferred from the Spectral Peak Energy–Peak Luminosity Relation(2004)679 cited
• → The QDOT all-sky IRAS galaxy redshift survey(1999)82 cited
• → CATALOGS OF COMPACT GROUPS OF GALAXIES FROM THE ENHANCED SDSS DR12(2016)28 cited
• → Photometric redshifts and clustering of emission line galaxies selected jointly by DES and eBOSS(2015)4 cited
• Redshift indicators for Gamma-Ray Bursts(2005)