THE EVOLUTION OF THE GALAXY REST-FRAME ULTRAVIOLET LUMINOSITY FUNCTION OVER THE FIRST TWO BILLION YEARS

We present a robust measurement and analysis of the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) luminosity functions at z = 4-8. We use deep Hubble Space Telescope imaging over the Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey/GOODS fields, the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, and the Hubble Frontier Field deep parallel observations near the Abell 2744 and MACS J0416.1-2403 clusters. The combination of these surveys provides an effective volume of 0.6-1.2 x 10(6) Mpc(3) over this epoch, allowing us to perform a robust search for faint (M-UV = -18) and bright (Muv < -21) high-redshift galaxies. We select candidate galaxies using a well-tested photometric redshift technique with careful screening of contaminants, finding a sample of 7446 candidate galaxies at 3.5 < z < 8.5, with >1000 galaxies at z approximate to 6-8. We measure both a stepwise luminosity function for candidate galaxies in our redshift samples, and a Schechter function, using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis to measure robust uncertainties. At the faint end, our UV luminosity functions agree with previous studies, yet we find a higher abundance of UV-bright candidate galaxies at z >= 6. Our best-fit value of the characteristic magnitude MN is consistent with -21 at z >=, 5, which is different than that inferred based on previous trends at lower redshift, and brighter at similar to 2 sigma significance than previous measures at z = 6 and 7. At z = 8, a single power law provides an equally good fit to the UV luminosity function, while at z = 6 and 7 an exponential cutoff at the bright end is moderately preferred. We compare our luminosity functions to semi-analytical models, and find that the lack of evolution in M-UV(*) is consistent with models where the impact of dust attenuation on the bright end of the luminosity function decreases at higher redshift, although a decreasing impact of feedback may also be possible. We measure the evolution of the cosmic star-formation rate (SFR) density by integrating our observed luminosity functions to M-UV = -17, correcting for dust attenuation, and find that the SFR density declines proportionally to (1 +z)(-4.3 +/- 0 5) at z > 4, which is consistent with observations at z >= 9. Our observed luminosity functions are consistent with a reionization history that starts at z greater than or similar to 10, completes at z > 6, and reaches a midpoint (xH = 0.5) at 6.7 < z <9.4. Finally, using a constant cumulative number density selection and an empirically derived rising star-formation history, our observations predict that the abundance of bright z = 9 galaxies is likely higher than previous constraints, although consistent with recent estimates of bright z similar to 10 galaxies.