Photometric redshifts as a tool for studying the Coma cluster galaxy populations

International audienceAims. We apply photometric redshift techniques to an investigation of the Coma cluster galaxy luminosity function (GLF) at faint magnitudes, in particular in the u* band where basically no studies are presently available at these magnitudes. Methods: Cluster members were selected based on probability distribution function from photometric redshift calculations applied to deep u^*, B, V, R, I images covering a region of almost 1 deg2 (completeness limit R ~ 24). In the area covered only by the u* image, the GLF was also derived after a statistical background subtraction. Results: Global and local GLFs in the B, V, R, and I bands obtained with photometric redshift selection are consistent with our previous results based on a statistical background subtraction. The GLF in the u* band shows an increase in the faint end slope towards the outer regions of the cluster. The analysis of the multicolor type spatial distribution reveals that late type galaxies are distributed in clumps in the cluster outskirts, where X-ray substructures are also detected and where the GLF in the u* band is steeper. Conclusions: We can reproduce the GLFs computed with classical statistical subtraction methods by applying a photometric redshift technique. The u* GLF slope is steeper in the cluster outskirts, varying from α ~ -1 in the cluster center to α ~ -2 in the cluster periphery. The concentrations of faint late type galaxies in the cluster outskirts could explain these very steep slopes, assuming a short burst of star formation in these galaxies when entering the cluster. Based on observations obtained with MegaPrime/MegaCam, a joint project of CFHT and CEA/DAPNIA, at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) which is operated by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, the Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) of France, and the University of Hawaii. This work is also partly based on data products produced at TERAPIX and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre as part of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey, a collaborative project of NRC and CNRS. Also based on data from W. M. Keck Observatory which is operated as a scientific partnership between the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and NASA. It was made possible by the generous financial support of the W. M. Keck Foundation