Multiwavelength constraints on the cosmic star formation history from spectroscopy: The rest-frame ultraviolet, H alpha, and infrared luminosity functions at redshifts 1.9 less than or similar to z less than or similar to 3.4

We use a sample of rest-frame UV-selected and spectroscopically observed galaxies at redshifts 1.9 <= z < 3.4, combined with ground-based spectroscopic H alpha and Spitzer MIPS 24 mu m data, to derive the most robust measurements of the rest-frame UV, H alpha, and infrared (IR) luminosity functions (LFs) at these redshifts. Our sample is by far the largest of its kind, with over 2000 spectroscopic redshifts in the range 1.9 <= z < 3.4 and similar to 15,000 photometric candidates in 29 independent fields covering a total area of almost a square degree. Our method for computing the LFs takes into account a number of systematic effects, including photometric scatter, Ly alpha line perturbations to the observed optical colors of galaxies, and contaminants. Taking into account the latter, we find no evidence for an excess of UV-bright galaxies over what was inferred in early z similar to 3 LBG studies. The UV LF appears to undergo little evolution between z similar to 4 and z similar to 2. Corrected for extinction, the UV luminosity density (LD) at z similar to 2 is at least as large as the value at z similar to 3 and a factor of similar to 9 larger than the value at z similar to 6, primarily reflecting an increase in the number density of bright galaxies between z similar to 6 and z similar to 2. Our analysis yields the first constraints anchored by extensive spectroscopy on the infrared and bolometric LFs for faint and moderately luminous (L(bol) less than or similar to 1012 L(circle dot)) galaxies. Adding the IR to the emergent UV luminosity, incorporating independent measurements of the LD from ULIRGs, and assuming realistic dust attenuation values for UV-faint galaxies, indicates that galaxies with L(bol) < 10(12) L(circle dot) account for approximate to 80% of the bolometric LD and SFRD at z similar to 2-3. This suggests that previous estimates of the faint end of the L(bol) LF may have underestimated the steepness of the faint-end slope at L(bol) < 10(12) L(circle dot). Our multiwavelength constraints on the global SFRD indicate that approximately one-third of the present-day stellar mass density was formed in subultraluminous galaxies between redshifts z = 1.9-3.4.