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An Ultra-deep Multiband Very Large Array (VLA) Survey of the Faint Radio Sky (COSMOS-XS): New Constraints on the Cosmic Star Formation History

van der Vlugt, D.; Hodge, J. A.; Algera, H. S. B.; Smail, I.; Leslie, S. K.; Radcliffe, J. F.; Riechers, D. A.; Röttgering, H.

An Ultra-deep Multiband Very Large Array (VLA) Survey of the Faint Radio Sky (COSMOS-XS): New Constraints on the Cosmic Star Formation History Thumbnail


Authors

D. van der Vlugt

J. A. Hodge

H. S. B. Algera

Profile image of Ian Smail

Ian Smail ian.smail@durham.ac.uk
Emeritus Professor

S. K. Leslie

J. F. Radcliffe

D. A. Riechers

H. Röttgering



Abstract

We make use of ultra-deep 3 GHz Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) observations of the COSMOS field from the multiband COSMOS-XS survey to infer radio luminosity functions (LFs) of star-forming galaxies (SFGs). Using ∼1300 SFGs with redshifts out to z ∼ 4.6, and fixing the faint and bright end shape of the radio LF to the local values, we find a strong redshift trend that can be fitted by pure luminosity evolution with the luminosity parameter given by αL ∝ (3.40 ± 0.11) − (0.48 ± 0.06)z. We then combine the ultra-deep COSMOS-XS data set with the shallower VLA-COSMOS 3 GHz large project data set over the wider COSMOS field in order to fit for joint density+luminosity evolution, finding evidence for significant density evolution. By comparing the radio LFs to the observed far-infrared and ultraviolet (UV) LFs, we find evidence of a significant underestimation of the UV LF by 22% ± 14% at high redshift (3.3 < z < 4.6, integrated down to $0.03\,{L}_{z=3}^{\star }$). We derive the cosmic star formation rate density (SFRD) by integrating the fitted radio LFs and find that the SFRD rises up to z ∼ 1.8 and then declines more rapidly than previous radio-based estimates. A direct comparison between the radio SFRD and a recent UV-based SFRD, where we integrate both LFs down to a consistent limit ($0.038\,{L}_{z=3}^{\star }$), reveals that the discrepancy between the radio and UV LFs translates to a significant (∼1 dex) discrepancy in the derived SFRD at z > 3, even assuming the latest dust corrections and without accounting for optically dark sources.

Citation

van der Vlugt, D., Hodge, J. A., Algera, H. S. B., Smail, I., Leslie, S. K., Radcliffe, J. F., …Röttgering, H. (2022). An Ultra-deep Multiband Very Large Array (VLA) Survey of the Faint Radio Sky (COSMOS-XS): New Constraints on the Cosmic Star Formation History. Astrophysical Journal, 941(1), Article 10. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac99db

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 6, 2022
Online Publication Date Dec 7, 2022
Publication Date Dec 10, 2022
Deposit Date Nov 1, 2023
Publicly Available Date Nov 1, 2023
Journal The Astrophysical Journal
Print ISSN 0004-637X
Electronic ISSN 1538-4357
Publisher American Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 941
Issue 1
Article Number 10
DOI https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac99db
Keywords Space and Planetary Science; Astronomy and Astrophysics
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1873160

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Copyright Statement
© 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.
Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.





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