Shedding Light on the Galaxy Luminosity Function

From as early as the 1930s, astronomers have tried to quantify the statistical nature of the evolution and large-scale structure of galaxies by studying their luminosity distribution as a function of redshift - known as the galaxy luminosity function (LF). Accurately constructing the LF remains a popular and yet tricky pursuit in modern observational cosmology where the presence of observational selection effects due to e.g. detection thresholds in apparent magnitude, colour, surface brightness or some combination thereof can render any given galaxy survey incomplete and thus introduce bias into the LF. Over the last seventy years there have been numerous sophisticated statistical approaches devised to tackle these issues; all have advantages -- but not one is perfect. This review takes a broad historical look at the key statistical tools that have been developed over this period, discussing their relative merits and highlighting any significant extensions and modifications. In addition, the more generalised methods that have emerged within the last few years are examined. These methods propose a more rigorous statistical framework within which to determine the LF compared to some of the more traditional methods. I also look at how photometric redshift estimations are being incorporated into the LF methodology as well as considering the construction of bivariate LFs. Finally, I review the ongoing development of completeness estimators which test some of the fundamental assumptions going into LF estimators and can be powerful probes of any residual systematic effects inherent magnitude-redshift data.Comment: 95 pages, 23 figures, 3 tables. Now published in The Astronomy & Astrophysics Review. This version: bring in line with A&AR format requirements, also minor typo corrections made, additional citations and higher rez images adde

Spectatorship in French Theater Architecture: Stage and Public Space

Theater, as one of the oldest mass media, is often considered as the privileged place to discern the historically variable ways of how social identities are constructed and distributed. The social agency or performativity of theater is mostly studied from its representational aspects, focusing on the relation between what is performed on stage and the recipient of the performance, the spectator. However, it is equally important to include the place of performance as well. The location of the performance within the public space, its specific architecture and decorations, and its spatial structuring of the relation between performers and spectators, all contribute to theater's social agency. The importance of the performance place in the construction and distribution of social identities especially holds true for French eighteenth‐century architectural theory and practice. In a reaction to the dreadful spatial conditions of most French playhouses until deep in the eighteenth century, numerous architects and theorists proposed new ideas concerning theater architecture and the way they structured new modes of spectatorship