The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: star formation in UV-luminous galaxies from their luminosity functions

We present the ultraviolet (UV) luminosity function of galaxies from the GALEX Medium Imaging Survey with measured spectroscopic redshifts from the first data release of the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey. Our sample consists of 39 996 NUV M_NUV > −22.5) evolve very rapidly with a number density declining as (1 + z)5±1 from redshift z = 0.9 to 0.6. These starburst galaxies (MNUV 0.55 we find that the bright end of the luminosity function is not well described by a pure Schechter function due to an excess of very luminous (MNUV < −22) galaxies. These luminosity functions can be used to create a radial selection function for the WiggleZ survey or test models of galaxy formation and evolution. Here we test the AGN feedback model in Scannapieco, Silk & Bouwens, and find that this AGN feedback model requires AGN feedback efficiency to vary with one or more of the following: stellar mass, star formation rate and redshift.