Galaxy formation and evolution

Abstract:

We determine the abundance of i′-band dropouts in the recently released HST/ACS Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (UDF). Because the majority of these sources are likely to be z ≈ 6 galaxies whose flux decrement between the F775W i′-band and F850LP z′-band arises from Lyman-α absorption, the number of detected candidates provides a valuable upper limit to the unextincted star formation rate at this redshift. We demonstrate that the increased depth of UDF enables us to reach an 8 σ limiting magnitude of z′AB = 28.5 (equivalent to 1.5 h10^-2 M⊙ yr^-1 at z = 6.1, or 0.1 LUV* for the z ≈ 3 U-drop population), permitting us to address earlier ambiguities arising from the unobserved form of the luminosity function. We identify 54 galaxies (and only one star) at zAB′ < 28.5 with (i′ - z′)AB > 1-3 over the deepest 11-arcmin² portion of the UDF. The characteristic luminosity (L*) is consistent with values observed at z ≈ 3. The faint end slope (α) is less well constrained, but is consistent with only modest evolution. The main change appears to be in the number density (φ*). Specifically, and regardless of possible contamination from cool stars and lower-redshift sources, the UDF data support our previous result that the star formation rate at z ≈ 6 was approximately six times less than at z ≈ 3. This declining comoving star formation rate [0.005 h70 M⊙ yr^-1 Mpc^-3 at z ≈ 6 at LUV > 0. 1 L* for a Salpeter initial mass function (IMF)] poses an interesting challenge for models which suggest that LUV > 0.1 L* star-forming galaxies at z ≃ 6 reionized the Universe. The short-fall in ionizing photons might be alleviated by galaxies fainter than our limit, or a radically different IMF. Alternatively, the bulk of reionization might have occurred at z ≫ 6.