We present a reconstruction of the large-scale structure, using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) COSMOS-Web program to trace environmentally driven galaxy evolution up to z ∼ 7. We apply a weighted kernel density estimation method to 164,000 galaxies with robust photometric redshifts. We find that stellar mass has a positive correlation with density at all redshifts, which is stronger for quiescent galaxies (QGs) at z ≲ 2.5, while at higher redshifts (2.5 ≲ z ≲ 5.5) this trend is confined to extreme overdense environments, consistent with early mass assembly in protoclusters. The star formation rate (SFR) shows a negative trend with density for QGs at z ≲ 1.2, reversing at z ≳ 1.8, while star-forming galaxies (SFGs) show a mild positive correlation up to z ∼ 5.5. The specific SFR remains nearly flat for SFGs and declines with density for QGs at z ≲ 1.2. Moreover, mass and environmental quenching efficiencies show that mass-driven processes dominate at z ≳ 2.5, that the two processes act with comparable strength between 0.8 ≲ z ≲ 2.5, and that environmental quenching becomes stronger for low-mass galaxies (M⋆ ≲ 1010M⊙) at z ≲ 0.8. These findings reveal that large-scale structure drives galaxy evolution by enhancing early mass assembly in dense regions and increasingly suppressing star formation in low-mass systems at later times, establishing the environmental role of the cosmic web across cosmic history. COSMOS-Web, the largest JWST survey, provides accurate and deep photometric redshifts, reaching 80% mass completeness at (Formula presented) logM⋆/M⊙∼8.7 at z ∼ 7, enabling the first view of how environments shaped galaxy evolution from the Epoch of Reionization to the present day.
Hatamnia, H., Mobasher, B., Taamoli, S., Kartaltepe, J.S., Casey, C.M., Akins, H.B., et al. (2026). Large-scale Structure in COSMOS-Web: Tracing Galaxy Evolution in the Cosmic Web up to z ∼ 7 with the Largest JWST Survey. THE ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, 1002(2), 1-23 [10.3847/1538-4357/ae5bac].
Large-scale Structure in COSMOS-Web: Tracing Galaxy Evolution in the Cosmic Web up to z ∼ 7 with the Largest JWST Survey
Moscardini L.;Toni G.;
2026
Abstract
We present a reconstruction of the large-scale structure, using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) COSMOS-Web program to trace environmentally driven galaxy evolution up to z ∼ 7. We apply a weighted kernel density estimation method to 164,000 galaxies with robust photometric redshifts. We find that stellar mass has a positive correlation with density at all redshifts, which is stronger for quiescent galaxies (QGs) at z ≲ 2.5, while at higher redshifts (2.5 ≲ z ≲ 5.5) this trend is confined to extreme overdense environments, consistent with early mass assembly in protoclusters. The star formation rate (SFR) shows a negative trend with density for QGs at z ≲ 1.2, reversing at z ≳ 1.8, while star-forming galaxies (SFGs) show a mild positive correlation up to z ∼ 5.5. The specific SFR remains nearly flat for SFGs and declines with density for QGs at z ≲ 1.2. Moreover, mass and environmental quenching efficiencies show that mass-driven processes dominate at z ≳ 2.5, that the two processes act with comparable strength between 0.8 ≲ z ≲ 2.5, and that environmental quenching becomes stronger for low-mass galaxies (M⋆ ≲ 1010M⊙) at z ≲ 0.8. These findings reveal that large-scale structure drives galaxy evolution by enhancing early mass assembly in dense regions and increasingly suppressing star formation in low-mass systems at later times, establishing the environmental role of the cosmic web across cosmic history. COSMOS-Web, the largest JWST survey, provides accurate and deep photometric redshifts, reaching 80% mass completeness at (Formula presented) logM⋆/M⊙∼8.7 at z ∼ 7, enabling the first view of how environments shaped galaxy evolution from the Epoch of Reionization to the present day.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.



