The Star-forming Main Sequence and Bursty Star-formation Histories at $z>1.4$ in JADES and AURORA

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Auteurs principaux: Clarke, Leonardo, Shapley, Alice E., Lam, Natalie, Topping, Michael W., Brammer, Gabriel B., Sanders, Ryan L., Reddy, Naveen A., Karthikeyan, Shreya
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Clarke, Leonardo
Shapley, Alice E.
Lam, Natalie
Topping, Michael W.
Brammer, Gabriel B.
Sanders, Ryan L.
Reddy, Naveen A.
Karthikeyan, Shreya
author_facet Clarke, Leonardo
Shapley, Alice E.
Lam, Natalie
Topping, Michael W.
Brammer, Gabriel B.
Sanders, Ryan L.
Reddy, Naveen A.
Karthikeyan, Shreya
contents We analyze JWST spectroscopic and HST+JWST photometric observations of 659 star-forming galaxies at $1.4 < z < 9$ from DR3 of the JADES survey and the AURORA Cycle 1 program. We measure the star-forming main sequence (SFMS) for galaxies above $10^{8.5}\rm\ M_\odot$ where the sample is largely representative, estimating star-formation rates (SFRs) using the H$α$ line flux and rest-frame far UV (1600Å) continuum measurements, each independently corrected for dust attenuation. We find that the intrinsic, measurement-error-subtracted scatter in the SFMS ($σ_{\rm int}$) increases with decreasing stellar mass for the H$α$-based SFMS, and we find no mass dependence of $σ_{\rm int}$ in the UV-based SFMS. Additionally, we find that $σ_{\rm int}$ decreases with increasing redshift, from $0.36^{+0.02}_{-0.02}$ dex to $0.22^{+0.08}_{-0.07}$ dex (H$α$ SFMS), and from $0.28^{+0.02}_{-0.02}$ dex to $0.20^{+0.08}_{-0.07}$ dex (UV SFMS) between $z\sim2$ and $z\sim 6.5$. We also measure the redshift evolution of the specific SFR and find that, assuming $\rm sSFR\propto (1+z)^γ$, $γ=1.89^{+0.16}_{-0.15}$ for the H$α$-based SFMS, and $γ=1.36^{+0.13}_{-0.13}$ for the UV-based SFMS. Analyzing the observed H$α$/UV luminosity ratios and star-formation histories from the {\sc prospector} fitting code, we find that 41--60\% of the sample is inconsistent with having a constant star-formation history. Finally, we find tentative evidence for shorter SFR burst timescales with increasing redshift based on the distribution of $\rm L_{Hα}/νL_{ν,1600}$ vs. $Δ\rm \log(L_{Hα})$. Taken together, these results are consistent with theoretical predictions of bursty star formation in the early Universe and provide valuable constraints for theoretical models of galaxy evolution.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_06681
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Star-forming Main Sequence and Bursty Star-formation Histories at $z>1.4$ in JADES and AURORA
Clarke, Leonardo
Shapley, Alice E.
Lam, Natalie
Topping, Michael W.
Brammer, Gabriel B.
Sanders, Ryan L.
Reddy, Naveen A.
Karthikeyan, Shreya
Astrophysics of Galaxies
We analyze JWST spectroscopic and HST+JWST photometric observations of 659 star-forming galaxies at $1.4 < z < 9$ from DR3 of the JADES survey and the AURORA Cycle 1 program. We measure the star-forming main sequence (SFMS) for galaxies above $10^{8.5}\rm\ M_\odot$ where the sample is largely representative, estimating star-formation rates (SFRs) using the H$α$ line flux and rest-frame far UV (1600Å) continuum measurements, each independently corrected for dust attenuation. We find that the intrinsic, measurement-error-subtracted scatter in the SFMS ($σ_{\rm int}$) increases with decreasing stellar mass for the H$α$-based SFMS, and we find no mass dependence of $σ_{\rm int}$ in the UV-based SFMS. Additionally, we find that $σ_{\rm int}$ decreases with increasing redshift, from $0.36^{+0.02}_{-0.02}$ dex to $0.22^{+0.08}_{-0.07}$ dex (H$α$ SFMS), and from $0.28^{+0.02}_{-0.02}$ dex to $0.20^{+0.08}_{-0.07}$ dex (UV SFMS) between $z\sim2$ and $z\sim 6.5$. We also measure the redshift evolution of the specific SFR and find that, assuming $\rm sSFR\propto (1+z)^γ$, $γ=1.89^{+0.16}_{-0.15}$ for the H$α$-based SFMS, and $γ=1.36^{+0.13}_{-0.13}$ for the UV-based SFMS. Analyzing the observed H$α$/UV luminosity ratios and star-formation histories from the {\sc prospector} fitting code, we find that 41--60\% of the sample is inconsistent with having a constant star-formation history. Finally, we find tentative evidence for shorter SFR burst timescales with increasing redshift based on the distribution of $\rm L_{Hα}/νL_{ν,1600}$ vs. $Δ\rm \log(L_{Hα})$. Taken together, these results are consistent with theoretical predictions of bursty star formation in the early Universe and provide valuable constraints for theoretical models of galaxy evolution.
title The Star-forming Main Sequence and Bursty Star-formation Histories at $z>1.4$ in JADES and AURORA
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.06681