A new method to measure evolution of the galaxy luminosity function

TL;DR

This paper introduces an efficient Bayesian method for reconstructing the evolution of the galaxy luminosity function across luminosity and redshift, utilizing diverse observational data types.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel Bayesian technique that combines multiple data types to accurately measure galaxy luminosity function evolution.

Findings

Method performs well on synthetic datasets

Predicted high accuracy for upcoming surveys

Flexible reconstruction over luminosity-redshift plane

Abstract

We present a new efficient technique for measuring evolution of the galaxy luminosity function. The method reconstructs the evolution over the luminosity-redshift plane using any combination of three input dataset types: 1) number counts, 2) galaxy redshifts, 3) integrated background flux measurements. The evolution is reconstructed in adaptively sized regions of the plane according to the input data as determined by a Bayesian formalism. We demonstrate the performance of the method using a range of different synthetic input datasets. We also make predictions of the accuracy with which forthcoming surveys conducted with SCUBA2 and the Herschel Space Satellite will be able to measure evolution of the sub-millimetre luminosity function using the method.