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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

The ALMA REBELS Survey: The [C ii ] Luminosity Function of UV-Selected Galaxies at z ∼ 7

  • Thomas Herard-Demanche1
  • Pascal A Oesch2,3
  • Rychard Bouwens1
  • Jacqueline A Hodge1
  • Hiddo S B Algera4
  • Manuel Aravena5,6
  • Karin Cescon1
  • Elisabete da Cunha7,8
  • Pratika Dayal9,10,11
  • Andrea Ferrara12
  • Rebecca Fisher13
  • Yoshinobu Fudamoto14
10 more authors
  • Kasper E Heintz3
  • Hanae Inami15
  • Andrea Pallottini16
  • Lucie E Rowland1
  • Renske Smit17
  • Laura Sommovigo18,19
  • Mauro Stefanon20,21
  • Michael W Topping22
  • Paul van der Werf1
  • Ivana F van Leeuwen1
22 affiliations
  1. 1Leiden Observatory, Leiden University , PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden ,
  2. 2University of Geneva Department of Astronomy, , Chemin Pegasi 51, CH-1290 Versoix ,
  3. 3Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, København N, DK-2200 ,
  4. 4Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, 11F of Astronomy-Mathematics Building , No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd, Taipei 106319, Taiwan ,
  5. 5Instituto de Estudios Astrofísicos, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Diego Portales , Av. Ejército 441, Santiago ,
  6. 6Millennium Nucleus for Galaxies (MINGAL) ,
  7. 7International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), The University of Western Australia , M468, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009 ,
  8. 8ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) ,
  9. 9Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics , 60 St George St, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 ,
  10. 10University of Toronto David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, , 50 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4 ,
  11. 11University of Toronto Department of Physics, , 60 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8 ,
  12. 12Scuola Normale Superiore , Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56126 Pisa ,
  13. 13Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, University of Manchester , Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL ,
  14. 14Center for Frontier Science, Chiba University , 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba 263-8522 ,
  15. 15Hiroshima Astrophysical Science Center, Hiroshima University , 1-3-1 Kagamiyama-Higashi, Hiroshima 739-8526 ,
  16. 16Università di Pisa Dipartimento di Fisica “Enrico Fermi”, , Largo Bruno Pontecorvo 3, I-56127 Pisa ,
  17. 17Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University , 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L3 5RF ,
  18. 18Columbia University Department of Astronomy, , 550 W 120th St, New York, NY 10025 ,
  19. 19Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 5th Ave, New York, NY 10010 ,
  20. 20Universitat de València Departament d’Astronomia i Astrofísica, , Av. Vicent Andrés Estellés 19, E-46100 Burjassot, València ,
  21. 21Unidad Asociada CSIC “Grupo de Astrofísica Extragaláctica i Cosmología” (Instituto de Física de Cantabria – Universitat de València) ,
  22. 22Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 ,
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Abstract

Luminosity functions (LF) are some of the most basic quantities providing insights into galaxy evolution across cosmic time and enabling a direct comparison between observations and simulations. Here, we present the first [C ii] 158 μm LF at z ∼ 7 from a sizeable UV-selected ALMA sample. Our analysis makes use of 27 galaxies with significant [C ii] emission line detections in the epoch of reionization from the REBELS (Reionization Era Bright Emission Line Survey) ALMA Large Program and its pilot programs. We used these line detections and similar from ALPINE to calibrate UV luminosity-L[C small ii] and stellar mass-L[C small ii] relations at z ∼ 7. Given the challenge in precisely defining a selection volume for the REBELS sample itself, we rely on published UV LF and stellar mass function (SMF) determinations at z ∼ 7 and three complementary approaches to derive the [C ii] LF. The UV LF-based method provides a lower limit on the [C ii] LF, due to its missing the most dust-obscured systems. Our SMF-based estimate yields a Schechter function with a characteristic luminosity of L*[C small ii] =109.11−0.27+0.11 L⊙ and a steep faint-end slope. From z ∼ 7 to z ∼ 5, our inferred [C ii] LF shows an evolution of +0.3 dex in normalisation and +0.1 dex in L*[C small ii]. Our results indicate a general underprediction from models of the abundance of [C ii] emitters at high-redshift and thus potentially the number densities of massive yet UV-faint systems implied by our SMF-based method. Additionally, they suggest that 63% of the star formation rate density occurs in massive [C ii]-bright systems and that ∼60–90% of [C ii] emitters at z ∼ 7 may be missed by bright UV selections. This highlights the importance of surveys focusing on especially massive, UV-faint sources at z > 6.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{herarddemanche2026alma,
  title = {{The ALMA REBELS Survey: The [C ii ] Luminosity Function of UV-Selected Galaxies at z ∼ 7}},
  author = {Thomas Herard-Demanche and Pascal A Oesch and Rychard Bouwens and Jacqueline A Hodge and Hiddo S B Algera and Manuel Aravena and Karin Cescon and Elisabete da Cunha and Pratika Dayal and Andrea Ferrara and Rebecca Fisher and Yoshinobu Fudamoto and Kasper E Heintz and Hanae Inami and Andrea Pallottini and Lucie E Rowland and Renske Smit and Laura Sommovigo and Mauro Stefanon and Michael W Topping and Paul van der Werf and Ivana F van Leeuwen},
  journal = {Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1093/mnras/stag2017},
  url = {https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag2017/8994297},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - The ALMA REBELS Survey: The [C ii ] Luminosity Function of UV-Selected Galaxies at z ∼ 7
AU  - Thomas Herard-Demanche
AU  - Pascal A Oesch
AU  - Rychard Bouwens
AU  - Jacqueline A Hodge
AU  - Hiddo S B Algera
AU  - Manuel Aravena
AU  - Karin Cescon
AU  - Elisabete da Cunha
AU  - Pratika Dayal
AU  - Andrea Ferrara
AU  - Rebecca Fisher
AU  - Yoshinobu Fudamoto
AU  - Kasper E Heintz
AU  - Hanae Inami
AU  - Andrea Pallottini
AU  - Lucie E Rowland
AU  - Renske Smit
AU  - Laura Sommovigo
AU  - Mauro Stefanon
AU  - Michael W Topping
AU  - Paul van der Werf
AU  - Ivana F van Leeuwen
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/23
JO  - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
DO  - 10.1093/mnras/stag2017
UR  - https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag2017/8994297
AB  - Luminosity functions (LF) are some of the most basic quantities providing insights into galaxy evolution across cosmic time and enabling a direct comparison between observations and simulations. Here, we present the first [C ii] 158 μm LF at z ∼ 7 from a sizeable UV-selected ALMA sample. Our analysis makes use of 27 galaxies with significant [C ii] emission line detections in the epoch of reionization from the REBELS (Reionization Era Bright Emission Line Survey) ALMA Large Program and its pilot programs. We used these line detections and similar from ALPINE to calibrate UV luminosity-L_[C small ii] and stellar mass-L_[C small ii] relations at z ∼ 7. Given the challenge in precisely defining a selection volume for the REBELS sample itself, we rely on published UV LF and stellar mass function (SMF) determinations at z ∼ 7 and three complementary approaches to derive the [C ii] LF. The UV LF-based method provides a lower limit on the [C ii] LF, due to its missing the most dust-obscured systems. Our SMF-based estimate yields a Schechter function with a characteristic luminosity of L^*_[C small ii] =10^9.11_−0.27^+0.11 L_⊙ and a steep faint-end slope. From z ∼ 7 to z ∼ 5, our inferred [C ii] LF shows an evolution of +0.3 dex in normalisation and +0.1 dex in L^*_[C small ii]. Our results indicate a general underprediction from models of the abundance of [C ii] emitters at high-redshift and thus potentially the number densities of massive yet UV-faint systems implied by our SMF-based method. Additionally, they suggest that 63% of the star formation rate density occurs in massive [C ii]-bright systems and that ∼60–90% of [C ii] emitters at z ∼ 7 may be missed by bright UV selections. This highlights the importance of surveys focusing on especially massive, UV-faint sources at z > 6.
SN  - 0035-8711
SN  - 1365-2966
ER  -