The evolution of the ultraviolet luminosity function from z ∼ 0.75 to z ∼ 2.5 using HST ERS WFC3/UVIS observations

Abstract

We present UV luminosity functions (LFs) at 1500 Å derived from the Hubble Space Telescope Early Release Science WFC3/UVIS data acquired over ∼50 arcmin2 of the GOODS-South field. The LFs are determined over the entire redshift range z = 0.75-2.5 using two methods, similar to those used at higher redshifts for Lyman break galaxies (LBGs): (1) 13 band UV+optical+NIR photometric redshifts to study galaxies in the range z = 0.5-2 in three bins of dz = 0.5 and (2) dropout samples in three redshift windows centered at z ∼ 1.5, z ∼ 1.9, and z ∼ 2.5. The characteristic luminosity dims by 1.5 mag from z = 2.5 to z = 0.75, consistent with earlier work. However, the other Schechter function parameters..