Abstract
We observed 5 Hickson Compact Groups with the ESO/MPI 2.2m telescope and WFI
to investigate the dwarf galaxy content and distribution in these galaxy
groups. Our deep imaging and careful selection of the candidate galaxies
revealed a rich population of mainly passively evolving dwarf galaxies, which
is spatially much more extended than the originally defined Hickson Compact
groups. The composite luminosity function of the 5 groups shows a bimodal
structure with a very steep rise in the low luminosity regime. The faint end
slope is close to the predictions of CDM theory for the slope of the Dark
Matter halo mass function.