SIMBAD references

A summary of starburst luminosities based on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) features is given for 243 starburst galaxies with 0<z<2.5, observed with the Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph. Luminosity νL_ν(7.7 µm) for the peak luminosity of the 7.7 µm PAH emission feature is found to scale as log[νL_ν(7.7 µm)]=44.63(±0.09)+2.48(±0.28)log(1+z) for the most luminous starbursts observed. Empirical calibrations of νL_ν(7.7 µm) are used to determine bolometric luminosity L_IR and the star formation rate (SFR) for these starbursts. The most luminous starbursts found in this sample have logL_IR=45.4(±0.3)+2.5(±0.3)log(1+z), in ergs/s, and the maximum star formation rates for starbursts in units of M_☉/yr are log(SFR)=2.1(±0.3)+2.5(±0.3)log(1+z), up to z=2.5. The exponent for pure luminosity evolution agrees with optical and radio studies of starbursts but is flatter than previous results based in infrared source counts. The maximum star formation rates are similar to the maxima determined for submillimeter galaxies; the most luminous individual starburst included within the sample has logL_IR=46.9, which gives an SFR =3.4x10³ M_☉/yr.