A physical model for the 0 < z < 8 redshift evolution of the galaxy UV luminosity and stellar mass functions

Abstract

We present a model to understand the redshift evolution of the UV luminosity and stellar mass functions of Lyman Break Galaxies. Our approach is based on the assumption that the luminosity and stellar mass of a galaxy is related to its dark matter halo assembly and gas infall rate. Specifically, galaxies experience a burst of star formation at the halo assembly time, followed by a constant star formation rate, representing a secular star formation activity sustained by steady gas accretion. Star formation from steady gas accretion is the dominant contribution to the galaxy UV luminosity at all redshifts. The model is calibrated by constructing a galaxy luminosity versus halo mass relation at $z=4$ via abundance matching. After this luminosity calibration, the model naturally fits the $z=4$ stellar mass function, and correctly predicts the evolution of both luminosity and stellar mass functions from $z=0$ to $z=8$. While the details of star formation efficiency and feedback are hidden within our calibrated luminosity versus halo mass relation, our study highlights that the primary driver of galaxy evolution across cosmic time is the build-up of dark matter halos, without the need to invoke a redshift dependent efficiency in converting gas into stars.

7 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letters

References in corpus (10)

• Cold streams in early massive hot haloes as the main mode of galaxy formation
• UV Luminosity Functions at z~4, 5, and 6 from the HUDF and other Deep HST ACS Fields: Evolution and Star Formation History
• The Abundance of Star-Forming Galaxies in the Redshift Range 8.5 to 12: New Results from the 2012 Hubble Ultra Deep Field Campaign
• Keck Spectroscopy of 3<z<7 Faint Lyman Break Galaxies: The Importance of Nebular Emission in Understanding the Specific Star Formation Rate and Stellar Mass Density
• CLASH: Three Strongly Lensed Images of a Candidate z ~ 11 Galaxy
• On the Lack of Evolution in Galaxy Star Formation Efficiency
• The Evolution of the UV Luminosity Function from z ~ 0.75 to z ~ 2.5 using HST ERS WFC3/UVIS Observations
• The 12C + 12C reaction and the impact on nucleosynthesis in massive stars
• Mapping the Dark Matter From UV Light at High Redshift: An Empirical Approach to Understand Galaxy Statistics
• An improved model for the formation times of dark matter haloes

Cited by in corpus (100)

• UV Luminosity Functions at redshifts z~4 to z~10: 10000 Galaxies from HST Legacy Fields
• Two Remarkably Luminous Galaxy Candidates at $z\approx 10-12$ Revealed by JWST
• New Determinations of the UV Luminosity Functions from z~9 to z~2 show a remarkable consistency with halo growth and a constant star formation efficiency
• The Dearth of z~10 Galaxies in all HST Legacy Fields -- The Rapid Evolution of the Galaxy Population in the First 500 Myr
• The Confinement of Star-Forming Galaxies into a Main Sequence through Episodes of Gas Compaction, Depletion, and Replenishment
• The Bolometric Quasar Luminosity Function at z = 0-7
• The Most Luminous z~9-10 Galaxy Candidates yet Found: The Luminosity Function, Cosmic Star-Formation Rate, and the First Mass Density Estimate at 500 Myr
• Rapid Reionization by the Oligarchs: The Case for Massive, UV-Bright, Star-Forming Galaxies with High Escape Fractions
• Probing the Dawn of Galaxies at z~9-12: New Constraints from HUDF12/XDF and CANDELS Data
• The Galaxy UV Luminosity Function Before the Epoch of Reionization
• A redshift-independent efficiency model: star formation and stellar masses in dark matter halos at z>4
• The z~6 Luminosity Function Fainter than -15 mag from the Hubble Frontier Fields: The Impact of Magnification Uncertainties
• The Grism Lens-Amplified Survey from Space (GLASS). I. Survey overview and first data release
• The brightest galaxies at Cosmic Dawn
• On the Stellar Populations of Galaxies at z=9-11: The Growth of Metals and Stellar Mass at Early Times
• Improved Constraints on the 21 cm EoR Power Spectrum and the X-Ray Heating of the IGM with HERA Phase I Observations
• Semi-analytic forecasts for JWST - I. UV luminosity functions at z = 4 - 10
• The JWST Extragalactic Mock Catalog: Modeling galaxy populations from the UV through the near-IR over thirteen billion years of cosmic history
• A Simple Technique for Predicting High-Redshift Galaxy Evolution
• High redshift JWST predictions from IllustrisTNG: Dust modelling and galaxy luminosity functions
• Extreme Value Statistics of the Halo and Stellar Mass Distributions at High Redshift: are JWST Results in Tension with ΛCDM?
• The Global 21-cm Signal in the Context of the High-z Galaxy Luminosity Function
• First Frontier Field Constraints on the Cosmic Star-Formation Rate Density at z~10 - The Impact of Lensing Shear on Completeness of High-Redshift Galaxy Samples
• GOLDRUSH. II. Clustering of Galaxies at $z\sim 4-6$ Revealed with the Half-Million Dropouts Over the 100 deg${}^2$ Area Corresponding to 1 Gpc${}^3$
• Stochastic modelling of star-formation histories II: star-formation variability from molecular clouds and gas inflow
• A Coherent Study of Emission Lines from Broad-Band Photometry: Specific Star-Formation Rates and [OIII]/Hβ Ratio at 3 < z < 6
• The Luminosity Function at z~8 from 97 Y-band dropouts: Inferences About Reionization
• Semi-analytic forecasts for JWST -- II. physical properties and scaling relations for galaxies at z = 4-10
• z~2-9 Galaxies Magnified by the Hubble Frontier Field Clusters II: Luminosity Functions and Constraints on a Faint-End Turnover
• Stochastic modeling of star-formation histories I: the scatter of the star-forming main sequence
• The Recent Burstiness of Star Formation in Galaxies at z~4.5 from H$\alpha$ Measurements
• Measurement of Galaxy Clustering at z~7.2 and the Evolution of Galaxy Bias from 3.8<z<8 in the XDF, GOODS-S AND GOODS-N
• Feedback-Free Starbursts at Cosmic Dawn: Observable Predictions for JWST
• The bright-end galaxy candidates at z ~ 9 from 79 independent HST fields
• Log-normal star formation histories in simulated and observed galaxies
• A Minimalist Feedback-Regulated Model for Galaxy Formation During the Epoch of Reionization
• The Evolution of the Lyman-Alpha Luminosity Function During Reionization
• The relative and absolute ages of old globular clusters in the LCDM framework
• Model-independent constraints on the hydrogen-ionizing emissivity at z>6
• Revisiting the Lyman Continuum Escape Crisis: Predictions for z > 6 from Local Galaxies
• Mini-quenching of $z=4-8$ galaxies by bursty star formation
• An Empirical Model for the Star Formation History in Dark Matter Halos
• A physical model for the evolving UV luminosity function of high redshift galaxies and their contribution to the cosmic reionization
• Correlating galaxy colour and halo concentration: A tunable Halo Model of galactic conformity
• Bright galaxies at Hubble's redshift detection frontier: Preliminary results and design from the redshift z~9-10 BoRG pure-parallel HST survey
• Where Do Galaxies End?
• Bursty star formation during the Cosmic Dawn driven by delayed stellar feedback
• The rest-frame optical (900nm) galaxy luminosity function at z~4-7: abundance matching points to limited evolution in the Mstar/Mhalo ratio at z>4
• Constraining the CO intensity mapping power spectrum at intermediate redshifts
• The galaxy-halo connection of emission-line galaxies in IllustrisTNG
• Spectroscopic observation of Ly$\alpha$ emitters at z~7.7 and implications on re-ionization
• The luminosity and stellar mass functions of GRB host galaxies: Insight into the metallicity bias
• High redshift JWST predictions from IllustrisTNG: II. Galaxy line and continuum spectral indices and dust attenuation curves
• Star Formation and Stellar Mass Assembly in Dark Matter Halos: From Giants to Dwarfs
• UVUDF: UV Luminosity Functions at the cosmic high-noon
• The simplest model of galaxy formation I: A formation history model of galaxy stellar mass growth
• A simple model linking galaxy and dark matter evolution
• On the faint-end of the high-$z$ galaxy luminosity function
• Photometric properties of reionization-epoch galaxies in the Simba simulations
• The high redshift SFR-M* relation is sensitive to the employed star formation rate and stellar mass indicators: Towards addressing the tension between observations and simulations
• On the faint-end of the galaxy luminosity function in the Epoch of Reionization: updated constraints from the HST Frontier Fields
• First Results from the KMOS Lens-Amplified Spectroscopic Survey (KLASS): Kinematics of Lensed Galaxies at Cosmic Noon
• Gamma Ray Burst and star formation rates: The physical origin for the redshift evolution of their ratio
• Elevated UV luminosity density at Cosmic Dawn explained by non-evolving, weakly mass-dependent star formation efficiency
• Blue Rest-Frame UV-Optical Colors in z~8 Galaxies from GREATS: Very Young Stellar Populations at ~650 Myr of Cosmic Time
• Constraints on photoionization feedback from number counts of ultra-faint high-redshift galaxies in the Frontier Fields
• The evolution of the star formation rate function and cosmic star formation rate density of galaxies at $z\sim 1-4$
• The Brightest Galaxies at Cosmic Dawn from Scatter in the Galaxy Luminosity versus Halo Mass Relation
• First Constraints on Small-Scale Non-Gaussianity from UV Galaxy Luminosity Functions
• Galaxy candidates at z ~ 10 in archival data from the Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies (BoRG[z8]) survey
• Dark-ages Reionization & Galaxy Formation Simulation II: Spin and concentration parameters for dark matter haloes during the Epoch of Reionization
• The importance of galaxy formation histories in models of reionization
• COSMOS2020: UV selected galaxies at $z\ge 7.5$
• Prospects for distinguishing galaxy evolution models with surveys at redshifts $z\gtrsim 4$
• A Predicted New Population of UV-faint Galaxies at z>4
• Exploiting synergies between JWST and cosmic 21-cm observations to uncover star formation in the early Universe
• Some observational tests of a minimal galaxy formation model
• The intrinsic SFRF and sSFRF of galaxies: comparing SDSS observation with IllustrisTNG simulation
• Dark-ages reionization and galaxy-formation simulation - VI. The origins and fate of the highest known redshift galaxy
• Quasi-equilibrium models of high-redshift disc galaxy evolution
• The Cosmic Web Around The Brightest Galaxies During The Epoch Of Reionization
• The observed cosmic star formation rate density has an evolution which resembles a Γ(a, bt) distribution and can be described successfully by only 2 parameters
• The impact of dark energy on galaxy formation. What does the future of our Universe hold?
• Effect of primordial non-Gaussianities on the far-UV luminosity function of high-redshift galaxies: implications for cosmic reionization
• The clustering and halo occupation distribution of Lyman-break galaxies at $z\sim 4$
• Degeneracies between baryons and dark matter: the challenge of constraining the nature of dark matter with JWST
• High-Redshift Galaxy Surveys and the Reionization of the Universe
• First Light And Reionisation Epoch Simulations (FLARES) XII: The consequences of star-dust geometry on galaxies in the EoR
• Lyman-alpha Emitters in Ionized Bubbles: Constraining the Environment and Ionized Fraction
• A Framework for Simultaneously Measuring Field Densities and the High-z Luminosity Function
• A stochastic model to reproduce the star-formation history of individual galaxies in hydrodynamic simulations
• Probing Reionization-Era Galaxies with JWST UV Luminosity Functions and Large-Scale Clustering
• A physical model for the redshift evolution of high-z Lyman-Break Galaxies
• Matching JWST UV Luminosity Functions with Refined $\Lambda$CDM Halo Models
• High-n Hydrogen Recombination Lines from the First Galaxies
• Galaxy assembly bias and large-scale distribution: a comparison between IllustrisTNG and a semi-analytic model
• A joint measurement of galaxy luminosity functions and large-scale field densities during the Epoch of Reionization
• Physics of star formation history and the luminosity function of galaxies therefrom
• The Cosmic Rush Hour: Rapid Formation of Bright, Massive, Disky, Star-Forming Galaxies as Signatures of Early-Universe Physics
• Finding High-Redshift Galaxies with JWST