Galaxy build-up in the first 1.5 Gyr of cosmic history: insights from the stellar mass function at <i>z</i> ~ 4–9 from <i>JWST</i> NIRCam observations

ABSTRACT Combining the public JWST/NIRCam imaging programs CEERS, PRIMER, and JADES, spanning a total area of $\sim 500\, {\rm arcmin}^2$, we obtain a sample of $\gt $30 000 galaxies at $z_{\rm phot}\sim 4\!-\!9$ that allows us to perform a complete, rest-optical-selected census of the galaxy population at $z\gt 3$. Comparing the stellar mass $M_*$ and the UV-slope $\beta$ distributions between JWST- and HST-selected samples, we generally find very good agreement and no significant biases. Nevertheless, JWST enables us to probe a new population of UV-red galaxies that was missing from previous HST-based Lyman-break galaxy (LBG) samples. We measure galaxy stellar mass functions (SMFs) at $z\sim 4\!-\!9$ down to limiting masses of $10^{7.5}\!-\!10^{8.5}\, {\rm M_\odot }$, finding steep low-mass slopes over the entire redshift range, reaching values of $\alpha \approx -2$ at $z\gtrsim 6$. At the high-mass end, UV-red galaxies dominate at least out to $z\sim 6$. The implied redshift evolution of the SMF suggests a rapid build-up of massive dust-obscured or quiescent galaxies from $z\sim 6$ to $z\sim 4$ as well as an enhanced efficiency of star formation towards earlier times ($z\gtrsim 6$). Finally, we show that the galaxy mass density grows by a factor $\sim 20\times$ from $z\sim 9$ to $z\sim 4$. Our results emphasize the importance of rest-frame optically selected samples in inferring accurate distributions of physical properties and studying the mass build-up of galaxies in the first 1.5 Gyr of cosmic history.

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Journal
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Published
2024-08-08
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stae1891
Citations
83
Primary Topic
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
27.52

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article

Galaxy build-up in the first 1.5 Gyr of cosmic history: insights from the stellar mass function at z ~ 4–9 from JWST NIRCam observations

Pratika Dayal, Mauro Giavalisco, Adam C. Carnall, Marko Shuntov et al.
83 citations
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
27.52
article

Galaxy build-up in the first 1.5 Gyr of cosmic history: insights from the stellar mass function at z ~ 4–9 from JWST NIRCam observations

Pratika Dayal, Mauro Giavalisco, Adam C. Carnall, Marko Shuntov, G. D. Illingworth, Laia Barrufet, Danilo Marchesini, Norman A. Grogin, R. J. Bouwens, Rohan P. Naidu, J. S. Dunlop, Callum T. Donnan, Ivo Labbé, Mauro Stefanon, Anton M. Koekemoer, John R. Weaver, Pablo G. Pérez‐González, D J McLeod, Fergus Cullen, R. A. A. Bowler, Pascal A. Oesch, Mark Dickinson, Gabriel Brammer, Rashmi Gottumukkala, Richard S. Ellis, Sune Toft, Mengyuan Xiao, Andrea Weibel, P. Santini, Natalie Allen, R. J. McLure
article en
83 citations

Abstract

ABSTRACT Combining the public JWST/NIRCam imaging programs CEERS, PRIMER, and JADES, spanning a total area of $\sim 500\, {\rm arcmin}^2$, we obtain a sample of $\gt $30 000 galaxies at $z_{\rm phot}\sim 4\!-\!9$ that allows us to perform a complete, rest-optical-selected census of the galaxy population at $z\gt 3$. Comparing the stellar mass $M_*$ and the UV-slope $\beta$ distributions between JWST- and HST-selected samples, we generally find very good agreement and no significant biases. Nevertheless, JWST enables us to probe a new population of UV-red galaxies that was missing from previous HST-based Lyman-break galaxy (LBG) samples. We measure galaxy stellar mass functions (SMFs) at $z\sim 4\!-\!9$ down to limiting masses of $10^{7.5}\!-\!10^{8.5}\, {\rm M_\odot }$, finding steep low-mass slopes over the entire redshift range, reaching values of $\alpha \approx -2$ at $z\gtrsim 6$. At the high-mass end, UV-red galaxies dominate at least out to $z\sim 6$. The implied redshift evolution of the SMF suggests a rapid build-up of massive dust-obscured or quiescent galaxies from $z\sim 6$ to $z\sim 4$ as well as an enhanced efficiency of star formation towards earlier times ($z\gtrsim 6$). Finally, we show that the galaxy mass density grows by a factor $\sim 20\times$ from $z\sim 9$ to $z\sim 4$. Our results emphasize the importance of rest-frame optically selected samples in inferring accurate distributions of physical properties and studying the mass build-up of galaxies in the first 1.5 Gyr of cosmic history.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyVol. 533(2)
University of Geneva (CH), Leiden University (NL), Tufts University (US), University of Copenhagen (DK), Space Telescope Science Institute (US), Universitat de València (ES), University of Groningen (NL), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), University of Massachusetts Amherst (US), Astronomical Observatory of Rome (IT), University of Manchester (GB), Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (US), Royal Observatory (GB), DAWN Center for Independent Living (US), Centro de Astrobiología (ES), NSF NOIRLab (US), Instituto de Física de Cantabria (ES), University College London (GB), Swinburne University of Technology (AU), University of Edinburgh (GB)
National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Space Telescope Science Institute, UK Research and Innovation, Royal Society, European Commission, National Research Foundation, Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Danmarks Grundforskningsfond, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Generalitat Valenciana, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Staatssekretariat für Bildung, Forschung und Innovation, Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Openalex Percentile: Top 0%
Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
27.52
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