Using JADES NIRCam photometry to investigate the dependence of stellar mass inferences on the IMF in the early universe

Charity Woodrum; Marcia Rieke; Zhiyuan Ji; William M. Baker; Rachana Bhatawdekar; Andrew J. Bunker; Stéphane Charlot; Emma Curtis-Lake; Daniel J. Eisenstein; Kevin Hainline; Ryan Hausen; Jakob M. Helton; Raphael E. Hviding; Benjamin D. Johnson; Brant E Robertson; Fengwu Sun; Sandro Tacchella; Lily Whitler; Christina C. Williams; Christopher N.A. Willmer

doi:10.1073/pnas.2317375121

Using JADES NIRCam photometry to investigate the dependence of stellar mass inferences on the IMF in the early universe

Charity Woodrum, Marcia Rieke, Zhiyuan Ji, William M. Baker, Rachana Bhatawdekar, Andrew J. Bunker, Stéphane Charlot, Emma Curtis-Lake, Daniel J. Eisenstein, Kevin Hainline, Ryan Hausen, Jakob M. Helton, Raphael E. Hviding, Benjamin D. Johnson, Brant E Robertson, Fengwu Sun, Sandro Tacchella, Lily Whitler, Christina C. Williams, Christopher N.A. Willmer

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

The detection of numerous and relatively bright galaxies at redshifts z > 9 has prompted new investigations into the star-forming properties of high-redshift galaxies. Using local forms of the initial mass function (IMF) to estimate stellar masses of these galaxies from their light output leads to galaxy masses that are at the limit allowed for the state of the Lambda Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) Universe at their redshift. We explore how varying the IMF assumed in studies of galaxies in the early universe changes the inferred values for the stellar masses of these galaxies. We infer galaxy properties with the spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting code Prospector using varying IMF parameterizations for a sample of 102 galaxies with photometry from the James Webb Space Telescope, JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey that are spectroscopically confirmed to be at z > 6.7, with additional photometry from the JWST Extragalactic Medium Band Survey for twenty-one of the galaxies. We demonstrate that models with stellar masses reduced by a factor of three or more do not affect the modeled SED.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	e2317375121
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	121
Issue number	42
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2317375121
State	Published - Oct 15 2024

Keywords

galaxy evolution
high-redshift galaxies
James Webb Space Telescope
star formation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General

Access to Document

10.1073/pnas.2317375121

Cite this

Woodrum, C., Rieke, M., Ji, Z., Baker, W. M., Bhatawdekar, R., Bunker, A. J., Charlot, S., Curtis-Lake, E., Eisenstein, D. J., Hainline, K., Hausen, R., Helton, J. M., Hviding, R. E., Johnson, B. D., Robertson, B. E., Sun, F., Tacchella, S., Whitler, L., Williams, C. C., & Willmer, C. N. A. (2024). Using JADES NIRCam photometry to investigate the dependence of stellar mass inferences on the IMF in the early universe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 121(42), Article e2317375121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2317375121

Using JADES NIRCam photometry to investigate the dependence of stellar mass inferences on the IMF in the early universe. / Woodrum, Charity; Rieke, Marcia; Ji, Zhiyuan et al.
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 121, No. 42, e2317375121, 15.10.2024.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Woodrum, C, Rieke, M, Ji, Z, Baker, WM, Bhatawdekar, R, Bunker, AJ, Charlot, S, Curtis-Lake, E, Eisenstein, DJ, Hainline, K, Hausen, R, Helton, JM, Hviding, RE, Johnson, BD, Robertson, BE, Sun, F, Tacchella, S, Whitler, L, Williams, CC & Willmer, CNA 2024, 'Using JADES NIRCam photometry to investigate the dependence of stellar mass inferences on the IMF in the early universe', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 121, no. 42, e2317375121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2317375121

@article{3edc24c6907045e5bd64921b28a14420,

title = "Using JADES NIRCam photometry to investigate the dependence of stellar mass inferences on the IMF in the early universe",

abstract = "The detection of numerous and relatively bright galaxies at redshifts z > 9 has prompted new investigations into the star-forming properties of high-redshift galaxies. Using local forms of the initial mass function (IMF) to estimate stellar masses of these galaxies from their light output leads to galaxy masses that are at the limit allowed for the state of the Lambda Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) Universe at their redshift. We explore how varying the IMF assumed in studies of galaxies in the early universe changes the inferred values for the stellar masses of these galaxies. We infer galaxy properties with the spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting code Prospector using varying IMF parameterizations for a sample of 102 galaxies with photometry from the James Webb Space Telescope, JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey that are spectroscopically confirmed to be at z > 6.7, with additional photometry from the JWST Extragalactic Medium Band Survey for twenty-one of the galaxies. We demonstrate that models with stellar masses reduced by a factor of three or more do not affect the modeled SED.",

keywords = "galaxy evolution, high-redshift galaxies, James Webb Space Telescope, star formation",

author = "Charity Woodrum and Marcia Rieke and Zhiyuan Ji and Baker, {William M.} and Rachana Bhatawdekar and Bunker, {Andrew J.} and St{\'e}phane Charlot and Emma Curtis-Lake and Eisenstein, {Daniel J.} and Kevin Hainline and Ryan Hausen and Helton, {Jakob M.} and Hviding, {Raphael E.} and Johnson, {Benjamin D.} and Robertson, {Brant E} and Fengwu Sun and Sandro Tacchella and Lily Whitler and Williams, {Christina C.} and Willmer, {Christopher N.A.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024 the Author(s).",

year = "2024",

month = oct,

day = "15",

doi = "10.1073/pnas.2317375121",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "121",

journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",

issn = "0027-8424",

publisher = "National Academy of Sciences",

number = "42",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Using JADES NIRCam photometry to investigate the dependence of stellar mass inferences on the IMF in the early universe

AU - Woodrum, Charity

AU - Rieke, Marcia

AU - Ji, Zhiyuan

AU - Baker, William M.

AU - Bhatawdekar, Rachana

AU - Bunker, Andrew J.

AU - Charlot, Stéphane

AU - Curtis-Lake, Emma

AU - Eisenstein, Daniel J.

AU - Hainline, Kevin

AU - Hausen, Ryan

AU - Helton, Jakob M.

AU - Hviding, Raphael E.

AU - Johnson, Benjamin D.

AU - Robertson, Brant E

AU - Sun, Fengwu

AU - Tacchella, Sandro

AU - Whitler, Lily

AU - Williams, Christina C.

AU - Willmer, Christopher N.A.

PY - 2024/10/15

Y1 - 2024/10/15

N2 - The detection of numerous and relatively bright galaxies at redshifts z > 9 has prompted new investigations into the star-forming properties of high-redshift galaxies. Using local forms of the initial mass function (IMF) to estimate stellar masses of these galaxies from their light output leads to galaxy masses that are at the limit allowed for the state of the Lambda Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) Universe at their redshift. We explore how varying the IMF assumed in studies of galaxies in the early universe changes the inferred values for the stellar masses of these galaxies. We infer galaxy properties with the spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting code Prospector using varying IMF parameterizations for a sample of 102 galaxies with photometry from the James Webb Space Telescope, JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey that are spectroscopically confirmed to be at z > 6.7, with additional photometry from the JWST Extragalactic Medium Band Survey for twenty-one of the galaxies. We demonstrate that models with stellar masses reduced by a factor of three or more do not affect the modeled SED.

AB - The detection of numerous and relatively bright galaxies at redshifts z > 9 has prompted new investigations into the star-forming properties of high-redshift galaxies. Using local forms of the initial mass function (IMF) to estimate stellar masses of these galaxies from their light output leads to galaxy masses that are at the limit allowed for the state of the Lambda Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) Universe at their redshift. We explore how varying the IMF assumed in studies of galaxies in the early universe changes the inferred values for the stellar masses of these galaxies. We infer galaxy properties with the spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting code Prospector using varying IMF parameterizations for a sample of 102 galaxies with photometry from the James Webb Space Telescope, JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey that are spectroscopically confirmed to be at z > 6.7, with additional photometry from the JWST Extragalactic Medium Band Survey for twenty-one of the galaxies. We demonstrate that models with stellar masses reduced by a factor of three or more do not affect the modeled SED.

KW - galaxy evolution

KW - high-redshift galaxies

KW - James Webb Space Telescope

KW - star formation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85205798907&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85205798907&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.2317375121

DO - 10.1073/pnas.2317375121

M3 - Article

C2 - 39378084

AN - SCOPUS:85205798907

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 121

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

IS - 42

M1 - e2317375121

ER -

Using JADES NIRCam photometry to investigate the dependence of stellar mass inferences on the IMF in the early universe

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this