The sizes of bright Lyman-break galaxies at $z\simeq3-5$ with JWST PRIMER

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Main Authors: Varadaraj, R. G., Bowler, R. A. A., Jarvis, M. J., Adams, N. J., Choustikov, N., Koekemoer, A. M., Carnall, A. C., McLeod, D. J., Dunlop, J. S., Donnan, C. T., Grogin, N. A.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Varadaraj, R. G.
Bowler, R. A. A.
Jarvis, M. J.
Adams, N. J.
Choustikov, N.
Koekemoer, A. M.
Carnall, A. C.
McLeod, D. J.
Dunlop, J. S.
Donnan, C. T.
Grogin, N. A.
author_facet Varadaraj, R. G.
Bowler, R. A. A.
Jarvis, M. J.
Adams, N. J.
Choustikov, N.
Koekemoer, A. M.
Carnall, A. C.
McLeod, D. J.
Dunlop, J. S.
Donnan, C. T.
Grogin, N. A.
contents We use data from the JWST Public Release IMaging for Extragalactic Research (PRIMER) survey to measure the size scaling relations of 1668 rest-frame UV-bright Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) at $z=3-5$ with stellar masses $\mathrm{log}_{10}(M_{\star}/M_{\odot}) > 9$. The sample was selected from seeing-dominated ground-based data, presenting an unbiased sampling of the morphology and size distributions of luminous sources. We fit Sérsic profiles to eight NIRCam bands and also measure a non-parametric half-light radius. We find that the size distributions with both measurements are well-fit by a log-normal distribution at all redshifts, consistent with disk formation models where size is governed by host dark-matter halo angular momentum. We find a size-redshift evolution of $R_{e} = 3.51(1+z)^{-0.60\pm0.22}$ kpc, in agreement with JWST studies. When considering the typical (modal) size over $z=3-5$, we find little evolution with bright LBGs remaining compact at $R_{e}\simeq0.7-0.9$ kpc. Simultaneously, we find evidence for a build-up of large ($R_{e} > 2$ kpc) galaxies by $z=3$. We find some evidence for a negatively sloped size-mass relation at $z=5$ when Sérsic profiles are used to fit the data in F200W. The intrinsic scatter in our size-mass relations increases at higher redshifts. Additionally, measurements probing the rest-UV (F200W) show larger intrinsic scatter than those probing the rest-optical (F356W). Finally, we leverage rest-UV and rest-optical photometry to show that disky galaxies are well established by $z=5$, but are beginning to undergo dissipative processes, such as mergers, by $z=3$. The agreement of our size-mass and size-luminosity relations with simulations provides tentative evidence for centrally concentrated star formation at high-redshift.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2401_15971
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The sizes of bright Lyman-break galaxies at $z\simeq3-5$ with JWST PRIMER
Varadaraj, R. G.
Bowler, R. A. A.
Jarvis, M. J.
Adams, N. J.
Choustikov, N.
Koekemoer, A. M.
Carnall, A. C.
McLeod, D. J.
Dunlop, J. S.
Donnan, C. T.
Grogin, N. A.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
We use data from the JWST Public Release IMaging for Extragalactic Research (PRIMER) survey to measure the size scaling relations of 1668 rest-frame UV-bright Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) at $z=3-5$ with stellar masses $\mathrm{log}_{10}(M_{\star}/M_{\odot}) > 9$. The sample was selected from seeing-dominated ground-based data, presenting an unbiased sampling of the morphology and size distributions of luminous sources. We fit Sérsic profiles to eight NIRCam bands and also measure a non-parametric half-light radius. We find that the size distributions with both measurements are well-fit by a log-normal distribution at all redshifts, consistent with disk formation models where size is governed by host dark-matter halo angular momentum. We find a size-redshift evolution of $R_{e} = 3.51(1+z)^{-0.60\pm0.22}$ kpc, in agreement with JWST studies. When considering the typical (modal) size over $z=3-5$, we find little evolution with bright LBGs remaining compact at $R_{e}\simeq0.7-0.9$ kpc. Simultaneously, we find evidence for a build-up of large ($R_{e} > 2$ kpc) galaxies by $z=3$. We find some evidence for a negatively sloped size-mass relation at $z=5$ when Sérsic profiles are used to fit the data in F200W. The intrinsic scatter in our size-mass relations increases at higher redshifts. Additionally, measurements probing the rest-UV (F200W) show larger intrinsic scatter than those probing the rest-optical (F356W). Finally, we leverage rest-UV and rest-optical photometry to show that disky galaxies are well established by $z=5$, but are beginning to undergo dissipative processes, such as mergers, by $z=3$. The agreement of our size-mass and size-luminosity relations with simulations provides tentative evidence for centrally concentrated star formation at high-redshift.
title The sizes of bright Lyman-break galaxies at $z\simeq3-5$ with JWST PRIMER
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.15971