Galaxy luminosity functions from far-UV to submillimetre at z = 0 in the COLIBRE simulations

Abstract We present predictions from the colibre cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation for the present-day galaxy luminosity functions (LFs) at wavelengths ranging from the far-ultraviolet (FUV) to the submillimetre. The simulations are post-processed with the radiative transfer code skirt, accounting for dust attenuation and emission using the distribution and properties of dust grains predicted directly by colibre. Results from simulations varying in mass resolution by a factor of ~102 (~105 − 107 M⊙) show very good convergence over most luminosity ranges. The colibre-skirt LFs match the data remarkably well from the FUV to $3.4\\, \\hbox{$\\\\rm{\\mu m}$ and also in the far-infrared and submillimetre wavelength range ($70-850\\, \\hbox{$\\rm{\\mu m}$). In the mid-infrared (MIR; $8-24\\, \\hbox{$\\rm{\\mu m}$), colibre-skirt matches the data well at low luminosities but significantly underpredicts the luminosities of MIR-bright galaxies, with the discrepancy increasing towards longer wavelengths. The total infrared LF, obtained by integrating the spectral energy distributions over $8-1000\\, \\hbox{$\\rm{\\mu m}$, also matches observations well at the faint end but underpredicts the number of very bright galaxies. The unprecedented agreement at all other wavelengths indicates that colibre, coupled with this calibration-free skirt post-processing framework, successfully predicts the properties of stellar populations at the present day and the amount and distribution of interstellar dust.