On the stunning abundance of super-early, luminous galaxies revealed by JWST

ABSTRACT The earliest JWST observations have revealed an unexpected abundance of super-early (z > 10), massive ($M_*\, \approx 10^9 {\rm M}_{\odot }$ ) galaxies at the bright-end (MUV ≈ −21) of the ultraviolet luminosity function (UV LF). We present a minimal physical model that explains the observed galaxy abundance at z = 10–14. The model primarily combines (i) the halo mass function, with (ii) an obscured star formation fraction prescription that is consistent with findings of the ALMA REBELS dusty galaxy survey. It has been successfully tested on well-known UV LFs up to z = 7. We argue that the weak evolution from z = 7 to z ≈ 14 of the LF bright-end can arise from a conspiracy between a decreasing…

• AV
  Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung

  Award: H2020
• EC
  European Commission

  Awards: H2020/740120, 740120, H2020
• RG
  Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
• NO
  Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek

  Award: 016.VIDI.189.162
• H2
  Horizon 2020 Framework Programme

  Award: 740120
• HE
  H2020 European Research Council

  Award: H2020/740120