11:00am!
10 November 2008
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Danilo Marchesini (Yale)
"The evolution of the stellar mass function of galaxies from z=4"
I will present the evolution of the stellar mass function (SMF) of
galaxies from z=4.0 to z=1.3 measured from a sample constructed from the
deep NIR MUSYC, the FIRES, and the GOODS-CDFS surveys, all having very
high-quality optical to mid-infrared data. I provide, for the first time,
a comprehensive analysis of random and systematic uncertainties affecting
the derived SMFs. I find evidence for mass-dependent evolution of the SMF.
Specifically, the number density at the characteristic stellar mass (Mstar
~ 10^11 Msun) increased by a factor of ~3.5 from z=1.65, and by a factor
of ~8 from z=2.5 to z=0. Very massive galaxies are found out to z=4.0, and
the number density of the most massive galaxies (Mstar > 10^11.5 Msun)
does not seem to have evolved much from z=4.0 to z=1.3. However, the found
mass-dependent evolution of the SMF is largely driven by the form of the
SMF at z=3.5, and this is still very uncertain. I will conclude by
presenting and showing some preliminary results of the NEWFIRM Medium-Band
Survey, a new NOAO/Yale survey aiming at dramatically improving the
accuracy of photometric redshifts in the range 1.5
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