Constraints on Dynamical Dark Energy Models from the Abundance of Massive Galaxies at High Redshifts

• Published in: The Astrophysical Journal
• Main Authors: Menci, N., Grazian, A., Castellano, M., Santini, P., Giallongo, E., Lamastra, A., Fortuni, F., Fontana, A., Merlin, E., Wang, T., Elbaz, D., Sanchez, N.G.
• Other Authors: Astrophysique Interprétation Modélisation (AIM (UMR_7158 / UMR_E_9005 / UM_112)), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7), Laboratoire d'Etude du Rayonnement et de la Matière en Astrophysique (LERMA (UMR_8112)), Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-CY Cergy Paris Université (CY)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: redshift: high; dark energy: equation of state; gas: mass; galaxy; parametrization; time dependence; dark energy: density; pole; redshift: dependence; [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]; [PHYS]Physics [physics]; South Pole; South pole
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02987500; https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aba9d2

International audience We compare the maximal abundance of massive systems predicted in different dynamical dark energy (DDE) models at high redshifts z ≈ 4–7 with the measured abundance of the most massive galaxies observed to be already in place at such redshifts. The aim is to derive constraints for the evolution of the dark energy equation-of-state parameter w that are complementary to existing probes. We adopt the standard parameterization for the DDE evolution in terms of the local value w 0 and of the lookback time derivative of the equation of state w a . We derive constraints on combinations of (w 0, w a ) in the different DDE models by using three independent probes: (i) the observed stellar mass function of massive objects at z ≥ 6 derived from the CANDELS survey; (ii) the estimated volume density of massive halos derived from the observation of massive, star-forming galaxies detected in the submillimeter range at z ≈ 4; (iii) the rareness of the most massive system (with an estimated gas mass exceeding 3 × 1011 M ⊙) observed to be in place at z ≈ 7, a far-infrared–luminous object recently detected in the South Pole Telescope survey. Finally, we show that the combination of our results from the three above probes excludes a sizable fraction of the DDE parameter space w a ≳ −3/4 − (w 0 + 3/2) presently allowed (or even favored) by existing probes.