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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 February 2017
In this review we first discuss the various ingredients of the non-evolving models for galaxy count observations. These ingredients include the K-corrections, the galaxy luminosity function and its dependence on galaxy colour, the local space density of galaxies and the cosmological deceleration parameter. Comparing the updated count model with the most recent galaxy count observations, the conclusion is still that at B>22m the B (and the R) counts require very significant amounts of evolution to fit the observed, steep n(m) relations. We review models of galaxy luminosity evolution and also discuss the current debate as to whether B≈23m galaxies have z ≈1 or z ≈3.
We also consider recent suggestions that the form of Tyson's counts at B=27m may constrain the cosmological deceleration parameter; contrary to the suggestion of Koo (1989), it is proposed here that if the turnover seen in Tyson's B counts is real then this argues for high values of qo and/or low galaxy formation redshifts. Finally, we consider the implications of these results for observations of the extragalactic background light (EBL) and conclude that in the ultraviolet (UV) and in the optical the contribution of faint galaxies to the EBL is likely to be small if the turnover in Tyson's counts is real. The galaxy count evidence gives less clear indications about the contribution of galaxies to the infrared EBL.