Invited review at "Structure and Dynamics in the Local Universe" workshop, and accepted for publication in PASA
astro-ph/0409461

For a PDF version of the article, click here.


BEYOND THE GALAXY LUMINOSITY FUNCTION

Simon Driver

Mount Stromlo Observatory, Weston, ACT 2902, AUSTRALIA
spd@mso.anu.edu.au


Abstract. With the advent of large scale surveys (i.e., Legacy Surveys) it is now possible to start looking beyond the galaxy luminosity function (LF) to more detailed statistical representations of the galaxy population, i.e., multivariate distributions. In this review I first summarise the current state-of-play of the B-band global and cluster LFs and then briefly present two promising bivariate distributions: the luminosity-surface brightness plane (LSP); and the colour-luminosity plane (CLP). In both planes galaxy bulges and galaxy disks form marginally overlapping but distinct distributions, indicating two key formation/evolutionary processes (presumably merger and accretion). Forward progress in this subject now requires the routine application of reliable bulge-disk decomposition codes to allow independent investigation of these two key components.


Keywords: galaxies: fundamental parameters -- galaxies: luminosity function, mass function -- galaxies: statistics -- surveys


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