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P.L. Capak (Caltech, U. Hawaii), L.L. Cowie, E.M. Hu (U. Hawaii), A.J. Barger (U. Wisconsin)
We measure the galaxy luminosity function, from the present to z~5, using the extensive spectroscopic and photometric information in the Hawaii-Hubble Deep Field North (H-HDF-N). We find that the average star formation rate per galaxy is declining as a power law - with a slope of 3.3 from z<5 to the present. In conjunction with this downsizing, the faint-end slope of the star forming luminosity function is evolving from \alpha = 1.63± 0.12 at z~3 to \alpha = 1.27 ±0.08 at z = 0.5. Integrating these luminosity functions we find that the ultraviolet luminosity density rises from z ~5, peaks at z ~2.5, and then declines as a power law with a slope of 2.0 for z < 2. On the other hand the rest-frame red light density declines much more slowly from z ~ 1.4 to the present. These differences in luminosity density evolution indicate that most of the stellar mass was either formed early in the universe or the population is passively evolving.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: capak@astro.caltech.edu
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 5
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.