The stellar mass function of quiescent and star-forming galaxies and its dependence on morphology in COSMOS-Web

Abstract

We study the stellar mass function (SMF) of quiescent and star-forming galaxies and its dependence on morphology in 10 redshift bins at $0.2<z<5.5$ using the COSMOS2025 catalog built from $0.54{\mathrm{deg}}^2$ JWST imaging from COSMOS-Web. Galaxies are selected by type using the $NUVrJ$ rest-frame color diagram and classified morphologically by bulge-to-total light ratio ($B/T$). The quiescent SMF shows rapid early build-up, with the most massive systems ($\log (M_{\star }/{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot })\gtrsim 11$) assembled by $z\sim 1$ and evolving little since. The star-forming SMF evolves more slowly, following a mass-evolution scenario where galaxies grow via star formation and quench at the characteristic mass $\log (M^{\ast }/{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot })\sim 10.6$. Bulge systems ($B/T>0.6$) dominate the quiescent SMF at $\log (M_{\star }/{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot })>10$ at all redshifts, while disks ($B/T<0.2$) dominate at $\log (M_{\star }/{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot })<9$. However, most bulge-dominated galaxies are star-forming, with their fraction increasing with redshift and decreasing mass, consistent with being progenitors of quiescent bulges. We find evidence for environmental quenching onset at $z\sim 3$ from the upturn in the quiescent SMF at $\log (M_{\star }/{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot })<9.5$, contributed by disk-dominated galaxies consistent with satellite quenching that retains disk morphologies. Number densities of $\log (M_{\star }/{\mathrm{M}}_{\odot })>10$ quiescent galaxies are lower than recent literature by $0.1-0.7$ dex, but agree well with simulations at $2<z<3$. At $z>3$, simulations increasingly underpredict observations. Finally, we build an empirical model describing galaxy number density evolution by parametrizing quenching rates, baryon conversion efficiency, and bulge formation. Our model supports a scenario where star-forming galaxies grow central bulges before quenching in massive halos.

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Cited by in corpus (2)

• Dynamical properties and star formation history of a low-mass quenched galaxy at Cosmic Noon
• COSMOS2025: A Machine Learning Census of Massive Quiescent Galaxies at $2.5<\text{z}<5$