The stellar mass function of quiescent and star-forming galaxies and its dependence on morphology in COSMOS-Web
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2025
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| author | Shuntov, Marko Ilbert, Olivier Lagos, Claudia del P. Toft, Sune Valentino, Francesco Mercier, Wilfried Akins, Hollis B. Binh, Nguyen Brinch, Malte Casey, Caitlin M. Franco, Maximilien Gentile, Fabrizio Gozaliasl, Ghassem Haghjoo, Aryana Harish, Santosh Hirschmann, Michaela Huertas-Company, Marc Jin, Shuowen Kartaltepe, Jeyhan S. Koekemoer, Anton M. Laigle, Clotilde Lewis, Joseph S. W. Magdis, Georgios E. McCracken, Henry Joy Mobasher, Bahram Moutard, Thibaud Oesch, Pascal A. Paquereau, Louise Renzini, Alvio Rich, Michael R. Sanders, David B. Toni, Greta Tresse, Laurence Weibel, Andrea Weaver, John R. Yang, Lilan |
| author_facet | Shuntov, Marko Ilbert, Olivier Lagos, Claudia del P. Toft, Sune Valentino, Francesco Mercier, Wilfried Akins, Hollis B. Binh, Nguyen Brinch, Malte Casey, Caitlin M. Franco, Maximilien Gentile, Fabrizio Gozaliasl, Ghassem Haghjoo, Aryana Harish, Santosh Hirschmann, Michaela Huertas-Company, Marc Jin, Shuowen Kartaltepe, Jeyhan S. Koekemoer, Anton M. Laigle, Clotilde Lewis, Joseph S. W. Magdis, Georgios E. McCracken, Henry Joy Mobasher, Bahram Moutard, Thibaud Oesch, Pascal A. Paquereau, Louise Renzini, Alvio Rich, Michael R. Sanders, David B. Toni, Greta Tresse, Laurence Weibel, Andrea Weaver, John R. Yang, Lilan |
| contents | We study the stellar mass function (SMF) of quiescent and star-forming galaxies and its dependence on morphology in 10 redshift bins at $0.2<z<5.5$ using the COSMOS2025 catalog built from $0.54 \, {\rm deg}^2$ JWST imaging from COSMOS-Web. Galaxies are selected by type using the $NUVrJ$ rest-frame color diagram and classified morphologically by bulge-to-total light ratio ($B/T$). The quiescent SMF shows rapid early build-up, with the most massive systems (${\rm log}(M_{\star}/{\rm M_{\odot}})\gtrsim11$) assembled by $z\sim1$ and evolving little since. The star-forming SMF evolves more slowly, following a mass-evolution scenario where galaxies grow via star formation and quench at the characteristic mass $\log(M^{*}/{\rm M}_{\odot})\sim10.6$. Bulge systems ($B/T>0.6$) dominate the quiescent SMF at ${\rm log}(M_{\star}/{\rm M_{\odot}})>10$ at all redshifts, while disks ($B/T<0.2$) dominate at ${\rm log}(M_{\star}/{\rm M_{\odot}})<9$. However, most bulge-dominated galaxies are star-forming, with their fraction increasing with redshift and decreasing mass, consistent with being progenitors of quiescent bulges. We find evidence for environmental quenching onset at $z\sim3$ from the upturn in the quiescent SMF at ${\rm log}(M_{\star}/{\rm M_{\odot}})<9.5$, contributed by disk-dominated galaxies consistent with satellite quenching that retains disk morphologies. Number densities of ${\rm log}(M_{\star}/{\rm M_{\odot}})>10$ quiescent galaxies are lower than recent literature by $0.1-0.7$ dex, but agree well with simulations at $2<z<3$. At $z>3$, simulations increasingly underpredict observations. Finally, we build an empirical model describing galaxy number density evolution by parametrizing quenching rates, baryon conversion efficiency, and bulge formation. Our model supports a scenario where star-forming galaxies grow central bulges before quenching in massive halos. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_05259 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | The stellar mass function of quiescent and star-forming galaxies and its dependence on morphology in COSMOS-Web Shuntov, Marko Ilbert, Olivier Lagos, Claudia del P. Toft, Sune Valentino, Francesco Mercier, Wilfried Akins, Hollis B. Binh, Nguyen Brinch, Malte Casey, Caitlin M. Franco, Maximilien Gentile, Fabrizio Gozaliasl, Ghassem Haghjoo, Aryana Harish, Santosh Hirschmann, Michaela Huertas-Company, Marc Jin, Shuowen Kartaltepe, Jeyhan S. Koekemoer, Anton M. Laigle, Clotilde Lewis, Joseph S. W. Magdis, Georgios E. McCracken, Henry Joy Mobasher, Bahram Moutard, Thibaud Oesch, Pascal A. Paquereau, Louise Renzini, Alvio Rich, Michael R. Sanders, David B. Toni, Greta Tresse, Laurence Weibel, Andrea Weaver, John R. Yang, Lilan Astrophysics of Galaxies We study the stellar mass function (SMF) of quiescent and star-forming galaxies and its dependence on morphology in 10 redshift bins at $0.2<z<5.5$ using the COSMOS2025 catalog built from $0.54 \, {\rm deg}^2$ JWST imaging from COSMOS-Web. Galaxies are selected by type using the $NUVrJ$ rest-frame color diagram and classified morphologically by bulge-to-total light ratio ($B/T$). The quiescent SMF shows rapid early build-up, with the most massive systems (${\rm log}(M_{\star}/{\rm M_{\odot}})\gtrsim11$) assembled by $z\sim1$ and evolving little since. The star-forming SMF evolves more slowly, following a mass-evolution scenario where galaxies grow via star formation and quench at the characteristic mass $\log(M^{*}/{\rm M}_{\odot})\sim10.6$. Bulge systems ($B/T>0.6$) dominate the quiescent SMF at ${\rm log}(M_{\star}/{\rm M_{\odot}})>10$ at all redshifts, while disks ($B/T<0.2$) dominate at ${\rm log}(M_{\star}/{\rm M_{\odot}})<9$. However, most bulge-dominated galaxies are star-forming, with their fraction increasing with redshift and decreasing mass, consistent with being progenitors of quiescent bulges. We find evidence for environmental quenching onset at $z\sim3$ from the upturn in the quiescent SMF at ${\rm log}(M_{\star}/{\rm M_{\odot}})<9.5$, contributed by disk-dominated galaxies consistent with satellite quenching that retains disk morphologies. Number densities of ${\rm log}(M_{\star}/{\rm M_{\odot}})>10$ quiescent galaxies are lower than recent literature by $0.1-0.7$ dex, but agree well with simulations at $2<z<3$. At $z>3$, simulations increasingly underpredict observations. Finally, we build an empirical model describing galaxy number density evolution by parametrizing quenching rates, baryon conversion efficiency, and bulge formation. Our model supports a scenario where star-forming galaxies grow central bulges before quenching in massive halos. |
| title | The stellar mass function of quiescent and star-forming galaxies and its dependence on morphology in COSMOS-Web |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.05259 |