The H-alpha Luminosity Function and Star Formation Rate Volume Density at z=0.8 from the NEWFIRM H-alpha Survey

TL;DR

This study measures the H-alpha luminosity function and star formation rate density at redshift 0.8 using deep narrowband imaging, revealing evolution in galaxy star formation activity and emphasizing the importance of accounting for cosmic variance and survey completeness.

Contribution

It provides new, robust measurements of the H-alpha luminosity function and star formation rate density at z=0.8, highlighting the impact of cosmic variance and the need for standardized completeness corrections.

Findings

H-alpha luminosity function well-described by a Schechter function

Star formation rate density increases with redshift as (1+z)^{3.4}

Significant cosmic variance observed across different fields

Abstract

[Abridged] We present new measurements of the H-alpha luminosity function (LF) and SFR volume density for galaxies at z~0.8. Our analysis is based on 1.18$\mu$m narrowband data from the NEWFIRM H-alpha Survey, a comprehensive program designed to capture deep samples of intermediate redshift emission-line galaxies using narrowband imaging in the near-infrared. The combination of depth ($\approx1.9\times10^{-17}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ in H-alpha at 3$\sigma$) and areal coverage (0.82 deg$^2$) complements other recent H-alpha studies at similar redshifts, and enables us to minimize the impact of cosmic variance and place robust constraints on the shape of the LF. The present sample contains 818 NB118 excess objects, 394 of which are selected as H-alpha emitters. Optical spectroscopy has been obtained for 62% of the NB118 excess objects. Empirical optical broadband color classification is used to sort the remainder of the sample. A comparison of the LFs constructed for the four individual fields reveals significant cosmic variance, emphasizing that multiple, widely separated observations are required. The dust-corrected LF is well-described by a Schechter function with L*=10^{43.00\pm0.52} ergs s^{-1}, \phi*=10^{-3.20\pm0.54} Mpc^{-3}, and \alpha=-1.6\pm0.19. We compare our H-alpha LF and SFR density to those at z<1, and find a rise in the SFR density \propto(1+z)^{3.4}, which we attribute to significant L* evolution. Our H-alpha SFR density of 10^{-1.00\pm0.18} M_sun yr^{-1} Mpc^{-3} is consistent with UV and [O II] measurements at z~1. We discuss how these results compare to other H-alpha surveys at z~0.8, and find that the different methods used to determine survey completeness can lead to inconsistent results. This suggests that future surveys probing fainter luminosities are needed, and more rigorous methods of estimating the completeness should be adopted as standard procedure.