Galaxy luminosity function: a new analytic expression

• Autor(a) principal: Alcaniz,J. S.
• Data de Publicação: 2004
• Outros Autores: Lima,J. A. S.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Brazilian Journal of Physics
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-97332004000300026

We propose a new analytic approximation for the luminosity function of galaxies. The suggested expression behaves like the Schechter function at the faint end (f ~ La) but departs considerably at the bright end (L >> L*). We argue here that such a behavior may provide a better fit for the current observational data than does the Schechter function. Its practical interest is stressed by considering roughly the data set provided by the Stromlo-APM redshift survey. Implications on the estimates of the matter density parameter from mass-to-light ratio are also briefly discussed.