Retrieving bulge and disk parameters and asymptotic magnitudes from the growth curves of galaxies

We show that the growth curves of galaxies can be used to determine their b ulge and disk parameters and bulge-to-total luminosity ratios, in addition to their conventional asymptotic magnitudes, provided that the point spread function is accurately known and signal-to-noise ratio is modest (S/N grea ter than or similar to 30). The growth curve is a fundamental quantity that most future large galaxy imaging surveys will measure. Bulge and disk para meters retrieved from the growth curve will enable us to perform statistica l studies of luminosity structure for a large number of galaxies.