发表机构
INAF Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma; Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS, Sorbonne Université; University of Texas at Austin; University of Oxford; University of Toronto; University of Cambridge（罗马国家天体物理研究所天文台; 巴黎天体物理学研究所; 德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校; 牛津大学; 多伦多大学; 剑桥大学）
机构由 AI 辅助整理，请以论文原文为准。AI 中文总结
本综述聚焦z>9处星系的紫外光度函数演化，整合JWST数据开展元分析，对比理论模型，总结z>15星系搜寻的矛盾结果并展望未来巡天要求。
AI 中文摘要
詹姆斯·韦布空间望远镜（JWST）在其运行的头四年中，最主要的发现之一是：宇宙诞生后最初5亿年的星系数量比预期多得多，且/或亮度更高。这一结果如今已得到大量巡天项目的坚实支撑，这些项目探测、光谱证认并表征了一个相对大的星系样本，其红移最高达14.44，即目前已知最遥远星系的红移。这一发现促使理论模型引入额外物理机制，以重现观测到的星系数量与光度。与之形成对比的是，尽管持续开展相关努力，仍未能证认任何红移高于该值的星系候选体。本综述总结了z>9处星系搜寻与表征的研究现状，重点关注紫外光度函数（UVLF）的演化——UVLF是可在这些红移处获取的星系群体的主要统计描述。我们首先全面概述迄今获取的全部JWST数据；对整个数据集开展“元分析”，并在各巡天项目间取平均，给出UVLF整体演化的简洁有效描述；还将这些结果与为匹配新JWST观测而开发、且探索驱动观测到的演化的不同物理机制的理论模型进行广泛对比。最后，我们总结了关于z>15处星系候选体搜寻的矛盾结果，并概述旨在突破这一障碍的未来巡天所需的条件。
英文摘要
The finding that galaxies in the first 500Myr were much more numerous and/or brighter than expected is often cited as one of the main discoveries of the James Webb Space Telescope in its first four years of operation. This result is now solidly based on an impressive number of surveys that have detected, spectroscopically confirmed, and characterized a relatively large sample of galaxies up to z=14.44, the redshift of the most distant galaxy currently known. This finding has motivated the introduction of additional physical mechanisms into theoretical models to reproduce the observed numbers and luminosities. These results contrast with the failure, despite ongoing efforts, to confirm any galaxy candidate beyond this redshift. This review summarizes the status of the search for and characterization of galaxies at z>9, focusing on the evolution of the UV Luminosity Function (UVLF), which is the main statistical description of the galaxy population that can be obtained at these redshifts. We first provide a comprehensive overview of the full set of JWST data obtained so far. We perform a 'meta--analysis' on the entire data set and provide a simple yet effective description of the global evolution of the UVLF, averaging over the various surveys. We also compare these results extensively with theoretical models that were developed to match the new JWST observations and that explore different physical mechanisms able to drive the observed evolution. We conclude with a summary of the contrasting results regarding the search for galaxy candidates at z>15, and outline the requirements for future surveys aimed at breaking this barrier.
Comments24 pages, 12 figures, 1 table. Review paper originated from the "High Redshift Galaxies" session of the CSI: Sesto workshop, January 26-30 2026. Submitted to the Open Journal of Astrophysics. Comments welcome!
