Relativistic cosmology number densities and the luminosity function

Aims. This paper studies the connection between the relativistic number density of galaxies down the past light cone in a Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker spacetime with non-vanishing cosmological constant and the galaxy luminosity function (LF) data. It extends the redshift range of previous results presented in Albani et al. (2007, ApJ, 657, 760), where the galaxy distribution was studied out to z = 1. Observational inhomogeneities were detected at this range. This research also searches for LF evolution in the context of the framework advanced by Ribeiro and Stoeger (2003, ApJ, 592, 1), further developing the theory linking relativistic cosmology theory and LF data. Methods. Selection functions are obtained using the Schechter parameters and redshift parametrization of the galaxy LF obtained from an I-band selected dataset of the FORS deep field galaxy survey in the redshift range 0.5 <= z <= 5.0 for its blue bands and 0.75 <= z <= 3.0 for its red ones. Differential number counts, densities and other related observables are obtained, and then used with the calculated selection functions to study the empirical radial distribution of the galaxies in a fully relativistic framework. Results. The redshift range of the dataset used in this work, which is up to five times larger than the one used in previous studies, shows an increased relevance of the relativistic effects of expansion when compared to the evolution of the LF at the higher redshifts. The results also agree with the preliminary ones presented in Albani et al., suggesting a power-law behavior of relativistic densities at high redshifts when they are defined in terms of the luminosity distance.