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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.19600 |
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Table of Contents:
- The elevated UV luminosity functions (UVLF) from recent James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have challenged the viability of existing theoretical models. To address this, we use a semi-analytical framework -- which couples a physically motivated source model derived from radiative-transfer hydrodynamic simulations of reionization with a Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampler -- to perform a joint calibration to JWST galaxy surveys (UVLF, $ϕ_{\rm UV}$ and UV luminosity density, $ρ_{\rm UV}$) and reionization-era observables (ionizing emissivity, $\dot{N}_{\rm ion}$, neutral hydrogen fraction, $x_{\rm HI}$, and Thomson optical depth, $τ$). We find that models with weak feedback and a higher contribution from faint galaxies reproduce the reionization observables but struggle to match the elevated JWST UVLF at $z > 9$. In contrast, models with stronger feedback (i.e., rapid redshift evolution) and a higher contribution from bright galaxies successfully reproduce JWST UVLF at $z \geq 10$, but over-estimate the bright end at $z < 9$. The strong-feedback model constrained by JWST UVLF predicts a more gradual and extended reionization history, as opposed to the sudden reionization seen in the weak-feedback models. This extended nature of reionization ($z\sim 16$ - $6$) yields an optical depth consistent (at 2-$σ$) with the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) constraint, thereby alleviating the photon-budget crisis. In both scenarios, reionization is complete by $z \sim 6$, consistent with current data. Our analysis highlights the importance of accurately modeling feedback and ionizing emissivities from different source populations during the first billion years after the Big Bang.