[1202.3436] A large H{\alpha} survey at z=2.23, 1.47, 0.84 & 0.40: the 11 Gyr evolution of star-forming galaxies from HiZELS

[1202.3436] A large H{\alpha} survey at z=2.23, 1.47, 0.84 & 0.40: the 11 Gyr evolution of star-forming galaxies from HiZELS:

This paper presents new deep and wide narrow-band surveys undertaken with UKIRT, Subaru and the VLT; a combined effort to select large, robust samples of H-alpha (Ha) emitters at z=0.40, 0.84, 1.47 and 2.23 (corresponding to look-back times of 4.2, 7.0, 9.2 and 10.6 Gyrs) in a uniform manner over ~2 deg^2 in the COSMOS and UDS fields. The deep Ha surveys reach ~3M_sun/yr out to z=2.2 for the first time, while the wide area and the coverage over two independent fields allow to greatly overcome cosmic variance. A total of 1742, 637, 515 and 807 Ha emitters are homogeneously selected at z=0.40, 0.84, 1.47 and 2.23, respectively, and used to determine the Ha luminosity function and its evolution. The faint-end slope is found to be -1.60+-0.08 over z=0-2.23, showing no evolution. The characteristic luminosity of SF galaxies, L*, evolves significantly as log[L*(z)]=0.45z+log[L*(z=0)]. This is the first time Ha has been used to trace SF activity with a single homogeneous survey at z=0.4-2.23. Overall, the evolution seen in Ha is in good agreement with the evolution seen using inhomogeneous compilations of other tracers of star formation, such as FIR and UV, jointly pointing towards the bulk of the evolution in the last 11 Gyrs being driven by a strong luminosity increase from z~0 to z~2.2. Our uniform analysis reveals an Ha star formation history of the Universe which can be simply parameterised by log(SFRD)=-2.1/(1+z) for z less than 2

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