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Using the multislit LDSS-2 spectrograph on the William Herschel Telescope, we have completed a redshift survey in the magnitude range 22. 51 and includes the highest redshift galaxy (z=1. 108) yet discovered in a field sample. The median redshift, zMED=0. 46, and form of the redshift distribution constitute compelling evidence against simple luminosity evolution as an explanation of the large excess of faint galaxies ~= (2-4) xno-evolution seen in this magnitude range. Rather, we identify the excess population as blue objects with z~0. 4 and B luminosities similar to local L^* galaxies, indicating a dramatic decrease in the density of such objects over the last Hubble time, and confirming the trends found in brighter redshift surveys. We also find a marked absence of very low-redshift galaxies (z<0. 1) at faint limits, severely constraining any significant steepening of the local field galaxy luminosity function at low luminosities.
Glazebrook et al. (Wed,) studied this question.