The JADES Transient Survey II: Volumetric Supernova Rates out to z~5

Abstract

The JADES Transient Survey (JTS) identified 83 supernova (SN) candidates in the JADES Deep Field, a $\sim$25 arcmin${}^2$ region with deep ($\sim$30 mag) multi-band, multi-epoch JWST/NIRCam coverage. We use this sample to derive the first volumetric core-collapse (CC) SN and Type Ia (SN Ia) rates in the $z$$\sim$2-5 range. Many of these SNe are photometrically classified from single-epoch photometry (i.e., single spectral energy distributions (SEDs)), so we simulate and classify $\sim$23,000 CC SN and SN Ia mock SEDs over 0.7$\le$$z$$\le$5 to quantify single-SED classification accuracy as a function of redshift. We report consistent rates for two samples: (1) the full JTS sample, including single-SED classifications, and (2) the "gold" sample, restricted to sources classified spectroscopically or with multi-epoch light curves. In units of 10${}^{-4}$ CC SNe yr${}^{-1}$ Mpc${}^{-3}$, the full sample CC SN rates are 6.2${}_{-1.7}^{+2.2}$ at 2.06$\le$$z$$<$2.78 and 4.1${}_{-1.1}^{+1.5}$ at 2.78$\le$$z$$\le$5.06, broadly consistent with the expectations from the galaxy luminosity-based measurements of the cosmic star formation rate density. Our full sample rates tentatively exhibit the predicted decline beyond cosmic noon, providing the first direct observational indication of this behavior. A companion paper, C. Vassallo et al., presents a more detailed comparison. We measure a full sample SN Ia rate of 0.3${}_{-0.2}^{+0.3}$$\times$10${}^{-4}$ SNe Ia yr${}^{-1}$ Mpc${}^{-3}$ at 1.92$\le$$z$$<$3.60. Future high-$z$ SN surveys with JWST and the Roman Space Telescope will expand these samples and provide more robust constraints on SN rates in the high-$z$ Universe.

43 pages, 14 figures, 5 tables. Submitted to ApJ. Companion paper C. Vassallo et al. also submitted to ApJ

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