2019MNRAS.487.3082C -
Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 487, 3082-3101 (2019/August-2)
The evolution of the UV-to-mm extragalactic background light: evidence for a top-heavy initial mass function?
COWLEY W.I., LACEY C.G., BAUGH C.M., COLE S., FRENK C.S. and LAGOS C.D.P.
Abstract (from CDS):
We present predictions for the UV-to-mm extragalactic background light (EBL) from a recent version of the GALFORM semi-analytical model of galaxy formation which invokes a top-heavy stellar initial mass function (IMF) for galaxies undergoing dynamically triggered bursts of star formation. We combine GALFORM with the GRASIL radiative transfer code for computing fully self-consistent UV-to-mm spectral energy distributions for each simulated galaxy, accounting for the absorption and re-emission of stellar radiation by interstellar dust. The predicted EBL is in near-perfect agreement with recent observations over the whole UV-to-mm spectrum, as is the evolution of the cosmic spectral energy distribution over the redshift range for which observations are available (z <= 1). We show that approximately 90 per cent of the EBL is produced at z < 2 although this shifts to higher redshifts for sub-mm wavelengths. We assess whether the top-heavy IMF in starbursts is necessary in order to reproduce the EBL at the same time as other key observables, and find that variant models with a universal solar-neighbourhood IMF display poorer agreement with EBL observations over the whole UV-to-mm spectrum and fail to match the counts of galaxies in the sub-mm.
Abstract Copyright:
© 2019 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society
Journal keyword(s):
galaxies: evolution - galaxies: formation - infrared: galaxies - submillimetre: galaxies - ultraviolet: galaxies
Simbad objects:
4
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