Self-Consistent JWST Census of Star Formation and AGN activity at z=5.5-13.5

Jordan C. J. D'Silva, Simon P. Driver, Claudia D. P. Lagos, Aaron S. G. Robotham, Nathan J. Adams, Christopher J. Conselice, Brenda Frye, Nimish P. Hathi, Thomas Harvey, Rafael Ortiz, Massimo Ricotti, Clayton Robertson, Ross M. Silver, Stephen M. Wilkins, Christopher N. A. Willmer, Rogier A. Windhorst, Seth H. Cohen, Rolf A. Jansen, Jake Summers, Anton M. Koekemoer, Dan Coe, Norman A. Grogin, Madeline A. Marshall, Mario Nonino, Nor Pirzkal, Russell E. Ryan,, Haojing Yan

First listed 2025-03-05 | Last updated 2025-07-14

Abstract

The cosmic star formation history (CSFH) and cosmic active galactic nuclei (AGN) luminosity history (CAGNH) are self consistently measured at $z = 5.5-13.5$. This is achieved by analyzing galaxies detected by the James Webb Space Telescope from $\approx 400 \, \mathrm{arcmin^{2}}$ fields from the PEARLS, CEERS, NGDEEP, JADES and PRIMER surveys. In particular, the combination of spectral energy distribution fitting codes, EAZY and \textsc{ProSpect}, are employed to estimate the photometric redshifts and astrophysical quantities of $3751$ distant galaxies, from which we compute the stellar mass, star formation rate and AGN luminosity distribution functions in four redshift bins. Integrating the distribution functions, we find that the CSFH rises by $\approx 1$~dex over $z = 13.5 - 5.5$ and the CAGNH rises by $\approx 1$~dex over $z = 10.5 - 5.5$. We connect our results of the CSFH and CAGNH at $z=13.5-5.5$ to that from $z= 5-0$ to determine the summary of $\gtrsim 13$ Gyr of star formation and AGN activity, from the very onset of galaxy formation to the present day.

Short digest

Combining ≈400 arcmin^2 of JWST imaging from PEARLS, CEERS, NGDEEP, JADES, and PRIMER, this work jointly fits galaxy and AGN components with EAZY+ProSpect for ≈3.9k galaxies at z=5.5–13.5 to build SMF, SFRF, and AGNLF in four bins. Integrating these functions shows a ~1 dex rise in the CSFH from z≈13.5→5.5, while the CAGNH also increases and tentatively does so more rapidly, implying early SMBH accretion can outpace stellar mass growth. The results are stitched to z<5 measurements to provide a continuous, self-consistent census spanning >13 Gyr. This anchors the early coevolution picture and constrains the AGN contribution around reionization.

Key figures to inspect

• Fig. 1 (pipeline calibration deltas): Quantifies median per-pixel magnitude shifts between JWST calibration/CRDS pmap versions by filter—use this to gauge systematic photometric floors that propagate into SMF/SFRF/AGNLF.
• Fig. 2 (GAIA star masking): Shows the PSF-wing/radial profile modeling and chosen mask radius versus image depth; check how bright-star halos are suppressed and the impact on completeness near saturated stars.
• Fig. 3 (ProFound vs SourceExtractor + astrometry): Compares F444W photometry and EPOCHS–PEARLS astrometric offsets; verify zero-point consistency and cross-survey alignment for the unified catalogs.
• Fig. 4 (EAZY high‑z selection): Photometric-redshift comparison for CEERS EGS and JADES GOODS‑S; inspect where high‑z EAZY solutions pass cuts versus outliers along the equality line to assess contamination control.