COSMOS-Web: Galaxy Size and Surface Brightness Evolution at Rest-Frame 1.22 $\mu$m Since $z=3$

Abstract

We present the evolution of galaxy size and surface brightness in the rest-frame $J$ band (1.22 $\mu$m), tracing the stellar mass distribution, over $0.5\le z\le 3$, using a sample of 15,420 galaxies with stellar masses $M_{\star }=10^{10}$-$10^{11.5}{M}_{\odot }$ from the JWST COSMOS-Web survey. The rest-frame $J$-band effective radius ($R_{e,J}$) is obtained from previous measurements and mapped from the available JWST/NIRCam filters, while the surface brightness (${\mu }_J$) is corrected for dust extinction and cosmological dimming. At a characteristic mass of $M_{\star }=5\times 10^{10}{M}_{\odot }$, star-forming galaxies exhibit a size evolution of $R_{e,J}\propto (1+z{)}^{\beta }$ with $\beta =-0.92\pm 0.04$, falling between previously reported shallower and steeper measurements. Quiescent galaxies evolve more rapidly, with $\beta =-1.34\pm 0.05$, consistent with earlier studies. Among star-forming galaxies, lower-mass systems ($10^{10}$ to $10^{10.5}{M}_{\odot }$) show slower ($\beta =-0.66\pm 0.02$) size evolution compared to their higher-mass counterparts. Furthermore, the surface brightness brightens toward higher redshifts, scaling as ${\mu }_J\propto -2.5\log (1+z{)}^{\gamma }$. We find $\gamma =3.07\pm 0.08$ for star-forming galaxies and $\gamma =3.70\pm 0.08$ for quiescent galaxies. We also find that massive star-forming galaxies ($M_{\star }>10^{10.5}{M}_{\odot }$) exhibit similar ${\mu }_J$ values at fixed redshift, independent of mass. Finally, we demonstrate that the observed surface brightness evolution is driven by the combined evolution of galaxy luminosity and size.

15 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in ApjL

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