Speaker: Charlotte Mason (UCLA)

The reionization process is likely intimately linked with the growth of galaxies at z>6, thus we need to understand galaxy populations at these redshifts. The rest-frame UV galaxy luminosity function (LF) and its evolution with redshift are crucial tracers of galaxy properties over cosmic time. I will present a new self-consistent model for the evolution of the LF where star formation is driven by the assembly of dark matter halos under the assumption of a halo mass dependent, but redshift independent, star formation efficiency. Our simple model is remarkably successful at capturing the evolution of the UV LF and other global properties over all the available observations (0 < z < ~10). I will discuss the implications of the model for our understanding of galaxy evolution at z7, the “smoking gun” of reionization, and will discuss ongoing ground based follow-up with VLT KMOS.