The Astronomical Journal (Jan 2024)
Evidence for a Shallow Evolution in the Volume Densities of Massive Galaxies at z = 4–8 from CEERS
- Katherine Chworowsky,
- Steven L. Finkelstein,
- Michael Boylan-Kolchin,
- Elizabeth J. McGrath,
- Kartheik G. Iyer,
- Casey Papovich,
- Mark Dickinson,
- Anthony J. Taylor,
- L. Y. Aaron Yung,
- Pablo Arrabal Haro,
- Micaela B. Bagley,
- Bren E. Backhaus,
- Rachana Bhatawdekar,
- Yingjie Cheng,
- Nikko J. Cleri,
- Justin W. Cole,
- M. C. Cooper,
- Luca Costantin,
- Avishai Dekel,
- Maximilien Franco,
- Seiji Fujimoto,
- Christopher C. Hayward,
- Benne W. Holwerda,
- Marc Huertas-Company,
- Michaela Hirschmann,
- Taylor A. Hutchison,
- Anton M. Koekemoer,
- Rebecca L. Larson,
- Zhaozhou Li,
- Arianna S. Long,
- Ray A. Lucas,
- Nor Pirzkal,
- Giulia Rodighiero,
- Rachel S. Somerville,
- Brittany N. Vanderhoof,
- Alexander de la Vega,
- Stephen M. Wilkins,
- Guang Yang,
- Jorge A. Zavala
Affiliations
- Katherine Chworowsky
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Steven L. Finkelstein
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Michael Boylan-Kolchin
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Elizabeth J. McGrath
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Colby College , Waterville, ME 04901, USA
- Kartheik G. Iyer
- ORCiD
- Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto , Toronto, ON M5S 3H4, Canada
- Casey Papovich
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA; George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
- Mark Dickinson
- ORCiD
- NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Anthony J. Taylor
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- L. Y. Aaron Yung
- ORCiD
- Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Rd., Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Pablo Arrabal Haro
- ORCiD
- NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory , 950 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Micaela B. Bagley
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Bren E. Backhaus
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, 196 Auditorium Road, Unit 3046, University of Connecticut , Storrs, CT 06269, USA
- Rachana Bhatawdekar
- ORCiD
- European Space Agency (ESA) , European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n, 28692 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
- Yingjie Cheng
- ORCiD
- University of Massachusetts Amherst , 710 North Pleasant St., Amherst, MA 01003-9305, USA
- Nikko J. Cleri
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA; George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
- Justin W. Cole
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA; George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University , College Station, TX 77843-4242, USA
- M. C. Cooper
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California , Irvine, 4129 Reines Hall, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
- Luca Costantin
- ORCiD
- Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) , CSIC-INTA, Ctra de Ajalvir km 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, 28850 Madrid, Spain
- Avishai Dekel
- ORCiD
- Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem , Jerusalem 91904, Israel
- Maximilien Franco
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, USA
- Seiji Fujimoto
- ORCiD
- Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Jagtvej 128, DK2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Lyngbyvej 2, DK2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
- Christopher C. Hayward
- ORCiD
- Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA
- Benne W. Holwerda
- ORCiD
- Physics & Astronomy Department, University of Louisville , Louisville, KY 40292, USA
- Marc Huertas-Company
- ORCiD
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias , La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain; Universidad de la Laguna , La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain; Université Paris-Cité , LERMA—Observatoire de Paris, PSL, Paris, France
- Michaela Hirschmann
- ORCiD
- Institute of Physics, Laboratory of Galaxy Evolution, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) , Observatoire de Sauverny, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
- Taylor A. Hutchison
- ORCiD
- Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Rd., Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Anton M. Koekemoer
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Rebecca L. Larson
- ORCiD
- School of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology , 84 Lomb Memorial Dr., Rochester, NY 14623, USA
- Zhaozhou Li
- ORCiD
- Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem , Jerusalem 91904, Israel
- Arianna S. Long
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, TX, USA
- Ray A. Lucas
- ORCiD
- Space Telescope Science Institute , 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Nor Pirzkal
- ORCiD
- ESA/AURA Space Telescope Science Institute , USA
- Giulia Rodighiero
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Università degli Studi di Padova , Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 3, I-35122, Padova, Italy; INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova , Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 5, I-35122, Padova, Italy
- Rachel S. Somerville
- ORCiD
- Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA
- Brittany N. Vanderhoof
- ORCiD
- Rochester Institute of Technology , 84 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623, USA
- Alexander de la Vega
- ORCiD
- Rochester Institute of Technology , 84 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623, USA
- Stephen M. Wilkins
- ORCiD
- Astronomy Centre, University of Sussex , Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK; Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy, University of Malta , Msida MSD 2080, Malta
- Guang Yang
- ORCiD
- Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen , P.O. Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands; SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research , Postbus 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands
- Jorge A. Zavala
- ORCiD
- National Astronomical Observatory of Japan , 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan; Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ad57c1
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 168,
no. 3
p. 113
Abstract
We analyze the evolution of massive (log _10 [ M _⋆ / M _⊙ ] > 10) galaxies at z ∼ 1–4 selected from JWST Cosmic Evolution Early Release Survey (CEERS). We infer the physical properties of all galaxies in the CEERS NIRCam imaging through spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting with dense basis to select a sample of high-redshift massive galaxies. Where available we include constraints from additional CEERS observing modes, including 18 sources with MIRI photometric coverage, and 28 sources with spectroscopic confirmations from NIRSpec or NIRCam WFSS. We sample the recovered posteriors in stellar mass from SED fitting to infer the volume densities of massive galaxies across cosmic time, taking into consideration the potential for sample contamination by active galactic nuclei. We find that the evolving abundance of massive galaxies tracks expectations based on a constant baryon conversion efficiency in dark matter halos for z ∼ 1–4. At higher redshifts, we observe an excess abundance of massive galaxies relative to this simple model, resulting in a shallower decline of observed volume densities of massive galaxies. These higher abundances can be explained by modest changes to star formation physics and/or the efficiencies with which star formation occurs in massive dark matter halos, and are not in tension with modern cosmology.
Keywords
