The PAndAS View of the Andromeda Satellite System. III. Dwarf galaxy
  detection limits
  We determine the detection limits of the search for dwarf galaxies in the
Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey (PAndAS) using the algorithm developed by
the PAndAS team. The recovery fractions of artificial dwarf galaxies are, as
expected, a strong function of physical size and luminosity and, to a lesser
extent, distance. We show that these recovery fractions vary strongly with
location in the surveyed area because of varying levels of contamination from
both the Milky Way foreground stars and the stellar halo of Andromeda. We
therefore provide recovery fractions that are a function of size, luminosity,
and location within the survey on a scale of 1 square degree. Overall, the
effective surface brightness for a 50-percent detection rate range between 28
and 30 mag per square arcsecond. This is in line with expectations for a search
that relies on photometric data that are as deep as the PAndAS survey. The
derived detection limits are an essential ingredient on the path to
constraining the global properties of Andromeda's system of satellite dwarf
galaxies and, more broadly, to provide constraints on dwarf galaxy formation
and evolution in a cosmological context.
