Evolution of Lyman Break Galaxies beyond [CLC][ITAL]z[/ITAL][/CLC] = 4

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Abstract
The formation rate of luminous galaxies seems to be roughly constant from z ~ 2 to ~4 from the recent observations of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs). The abundance of luminous quasars, on the other hand, appears to drop off by a factor of more than 20 from z ~ 2 to z ~ 5. The difference in evolution between the two classes of objects in the overlapping, observed redshift range (z = 2-4) can be explained naturally if we assume that quasar activity is triggered by mergers of luminous LBGs and one quasar lifetime is ~107-108 yr. If this merger scenario holds at higher redshift, for the evolutions of these two classes of objects to be consistent at z > 4, the formation rate of luminous LBGs is expected to drop off at least as rapidly as exp at z > 4.
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