Extrapolating the Evolution of Galaxy Sizes to the Epoch of Reionization

Abstract

We use data on the high-redshift evolution of the size distribution and luminosity function of galaxies to constrain the relationship between their star formation efficiency and starburst lifetime. Based on the derived scaling relations, we predict the angular sizes and average surface brightnesses of faint galaxies that will be discovered with JWST. We find that JWST will be able to resolve galaxies at the magnitude limit m<31 out to a redshift of z~14. The next generation of large ground-based telescopes will resolve all galaxies discovered with JWST, provided they are sufficiently clumpy to enable detection above the bright thermal sky. We combine our constraints with simple models for self regulation of star formation, and show that feedback from supernovae at redshifts z>3 is likely mediated through momentum transfer, with the starburst timescale set by the lifetime of the massive stars rather than the dynamical time in the host galactic disk.

5 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to ApJ Letters

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• Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Cosmological Interpretation
• The Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 Early Release Science data: Panchromatic Faint Object Counts for 0.2-2 microns wavelength
• The Galaxy Luminosity Function during the Reionization Epoch
• The luminosity function, halo masses and stellar masses of luminous Lyman-break galaxies at redshifts 5<z<6
• Simulating high-redshift galaxies
• Constraining the Minimum Mass of High-Redshift Galaxies and Their Contribution to the Ionization State of the IGM
• The galaxies that reionized the Universe
• High resolution science with high redshift galaxies

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• Constraining the Minimum Mass of High-Redshift Galaxies and Their Contribution to the Ionization State of the IGM
• A suppressed contribution of low mass galaxies to reionization due to supernova feedback
• First Light And Reionisation Epoch Simulations (FLARES) IV: The size evolution of galaxies at $z\ge 5$
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• The Super Eight Galaxies: Properties of a Sample of Very Bright Galaxies at $7<z<8$
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• The Compact UV Size of Green Pea Galaxies As Local Analogs of High-redshift Ly$\alpha$-Emitters
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• Understanding the Observed Evolution of the Galaxy Luminosity Function from z=6-10 in the Context of Hierarchical Structure Formation
• Faint AGN in z>~6 Lyman-break Galaxies Powered by Cold Accretion and Rapid Angular Momentum Transport
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