Constraints on the star-formation rate of z~3 LBGs with measured
  metallicity in the CANDELS GOODS-South field
  We analyse 14 LBGs at z~2.8-3.8 constituting the only sample where both a
spectroscopic measurement of their metallicity and deep IR observations
(CANDELS+HUGS survey) are available. Fixing the metallicity of population
synthesis models to the observed values, we determine best-fit physical
parameters under different assumptions about the star-formation history and
also consider the effect of nebular emission. For comparison we determine the
UV slope of the objects, and use it to estimate their SFR_UV99 by correcting
the UV luminosity following Meurer et al. (1999). A comparison between SFR
obtained through SED-fitting (SFR_fit) and the SFR_UV99 shows that the latter
are underestimated by a factor 2-10, regardless of the assumed SFH. Other SFR
indicators (radio, far-IR, X-ray, recombination lines) coherently indicate SFRs
a factor of 2-4 larger than SFR_UV99 and in closer agreement with SFR_fit. This
discrepancy is due to the solar metallicity implied by the usual beta-A1600
conversion factor. We propose a refined relation, appropriate for sub-solar
metallicity LBGs: A1600 = 5.32+1.99beta. This relation reconciles the
dust-corrected UV with the SED-fitting and the other SFR indicators. We show
that the fact that z~3 galaxies have sub-solar metallicity implies an upward
revision by a factor of ~1.5-2 of the global SFRD, depending on the assumptions
about the age of the stellar populations. We find very young best-fit ages
(10-500 Myrs) for all our objects. From a careful examination of the
uncertainties in the fit and the amplitude of the Balmer break we conclude that
there is little evidence of the presence of old stellar population in at least
half of the LBGs in our sample, suggesting that these objects are probably
caught during a huge star-formation burst, rather than being the result of a
smooth evolution.
