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ABSTRACT JWST has revealed a large population of UV-bright galaxies at $$z\gtrsim 10$$ and possibly overly massive galaxies at $$z\gtrsim 7$$, challenging standard galaxy formation models in the ΛCDM cosmology. We use an empirical galaxy formation model to explore the potential of alleviating these tensions through an Early Dark Energy (EDE) model, originally proposed to solve the Hubble tension. Our benchmark model demonstrates excellent agreement with the UV luminosity functions (UVLFs) at $$4\lesssim z \lesssim 10$$ in both ΛCDM and EDE cosmologies. In the EDE cosmology, the UVLF measurements at $$z\simeq 12$$ based on spectroscopically confirmed galaxies (eight galaxies at $$z\simeq 11\!-\!13.5$$) exhibit no tension with the benchmark model. Photometric constraints at $$12 \lesssim z\lesssim 16$$ can be fully explained within EDE via either moderately increased star-formation efficiencies ($$\epsilon _{\ast}\sim 3\!-\!10\ \hbox{per cent}$$ at $$M_{\rm halo}\sim 10^{10.5}{\, \rm M_\odot }$$) or enhanced UV variabilities ($$\sigma _{\rm UV}\sim 0.8\!-\!1.3$$ mag at $$M_{\rm halo}\sim 10^{10.5}{\, \rm M_\odot }$$) that are within the scatter of hydrodynamical simulation predictions. A similar agreement is difficult to achieve in $$\Lambda$$CDM, especially at $$z\gtrsim 14$$, where the required $$\sigma _{\rm UV}$$ exceeds the maximum value seen in simulations. Furthermore, the implausibly large cosmic stellar mass densities inferred from some JWST observations are no longer in tension with cosmology when the EDE is considered. Our findings highlight EDE as an intriguing unified solution to a fundamental problem in cosmology and the recent tensions raised by JWST observations. Data at the highest redshifts reached by JWST will be crucial for differentiating modified galaxy formation physics from new cosmological physics.
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Testing the near-far connection with FIRE simulations: inferring the stellar mass function of the proto-Local Group at z > 6 using the fossil record of present-day galaxies
ABSTRACT The shape of the low-mass (faint) end of the galaxy stellar mass function (SMF) or ultraviolet luminosity function (UVLF) at $$z \gtrsim 6$$ is an open question for understanding which galaxies primarily drove cosmic reionization. Resolved photometry of Local Group low-mass galaxies allows us to reconstruct their star formation histories, stellar masses, and UV luminosities at early times, and this fossil record provides a powerful ‘near-far’ technique for studying the reionization-era SMF/UVLF, probing orders of magnitude lower in mass than direct HST/JWST observations. Using 882 low-mass ($$M_{\rm star}\lesssim 10^{9}\, \rm {M_\odot }$$) galaxies across 11 Milky Way (MW)- and Local Group-analogue environments from the FIRE-2 cosmological baryonic zoom-in simulations, we characterize their progenitors at $$z=6\!-\!9$$, the mergers/disruption of those progenitors over time, and how well their present-day fossil record traces the high-redshift SMF. A present-day galaxy with $$M_{\rm star}\sim 10^5\, \rm {M_\odot }$$ ($$\sim 10^9\, \rm {M_\odot }$$) had $$\approx 1$$ ($$\approx 30$$) progenitors at $$z\approx 7$$, and its main progenitor comprised $$\approx 100~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$$ ($$\approx 10~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$$) of the total stellar mass of all its progenitors at $$z\approx 7$$. We show that although only $$\sim 15~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$$ of the early population of low-mass galaxies survives to present day, the fossil record of surviving Local Group galaxies accurately traces the low-mass slope of the SMF at $$z \sim 6 \!-\! 9$$. We find no obvious mass dependence to the mergers and accretion, and show that applying this reconstruction technique to just low-mass galaxies at $z = 0$ and not the MW/M31 hosts correctly recovers the slope of the SMF down to $$M_{\rm star} \sim 10^{4.5}\, \rm {{\rm M}_{\odot }}$$ at $$z \gtrsim 6$$. Thus, we validate the ‘near-far’ approach as an unbiased tool for probing low-mass reionization-era galaxies.
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- PAR ID:
- 10533842
- Publisher / Repository:
- Oxford University Press
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Volume:
- 533
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 0035-8711
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 1059-1074
- Size(s):
- p. 1059-1074
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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