Description:

Title: The emergence of quenched galaxies in the era of JWST

Speaker: Christina Williams, University of Arizona

Host: Wen-fai Fong

Abstract: The cessation of star-formation in galaxies remains poorly understood, despite being one of the most influential events in galaxy evolution. It is now known that high stellar mass density is strongly associated with this process at z~2-3, but the reason for this association is also poorly understood. Does high stellar density have a causal link with quenching, or is it a side effect of rapid growth in the early Universe? I will present new spectroscopic studies of stellar ages, molecular gas content, and feedback signatures that collectively provide evidence in favor of the latter scenario: compact galaxies grow fast in the first few billion years, but their high stellar density does not directly cause quenching. Understanding the early evolutionary development of the first quenched galaxies at z>3 is a major science goal of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and I will discuss how future extragalactic surveys with this groundbreaking facility will resolve outstanding questions about their formation scenarios. In particular, I will talk about surveys that are planned as part of the Guaranteed Time Observations (GTO) and our predictions for the science results we expect from JWST Cycle 1.

Keywords: Physics, Astronomy, Astrophysics