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From Halos to Galaxies. X. Decoding Galaxy SEDs with Physical Priors and Accurate Star Formation History Reconstruction

Gao, Zeyu; Peng, Yingjie; Wang, Kai; Ho, Luis C.; Renzini, Alvio; Gallazzi, Anna R.; Mannucci, Filippo; Mo, Houjun; Jing, Yipeng; Yang, Xiaohu; Wang, Enci; Zhao, Dingyi; Dou, Jing; Gu, Qiusheng; Lyu, Cheqiu; Maiolino, Roberto; Wang, Bitao; Wang, Yu-Chen; Xu, Bingxiao; Yuan, Feng; Zhu, Xingye

From Halos to Galaxies. X. Decoding Galaxy SEDs with Physical Priors and Accurate Star Formation History Reconstruction Thumbnail


Authors

Zeyu Gao

Yingjie Peng

Dr Kai Wang kai.wang@durham.ac.uk
Post Doctoral Research Associate

Luis C. Ho

Alvio Renzini

Anna R. Gallazzi

Filippo Mannucci

Houjun Mo

Yipeng Jing

Xiaohu Yang

Enci Wang

Dingyi Zhao

Jing Dou

Qiusheng Gu

Cheqiu Lyu

Roberto Maiolino

Bitao Wang

Yu-Chen Wang

Bingxiao Xu

Feng Yuan

Xingye Zhu



Abstract

The spectral energy distribution (SED) of galaxies is essential for deriving fundamental properties like stellar mass and star formation history (SFH). However, conventional methods, including both parametric and nonparametric approaches, often fail to accurately recover the observed cosmic star formation rate (SFR) density due to oversimplified or unrealistic assumptions about SFH and their inability to account for the complex SFH variations across different galaxy populations. To address this issue, we introduce a novel approach that improves galaxy broadband SED analysis by incorporating physical priors derived from hydrodynamical simulations. Tests using IllustrisTNG simulations demonstrate that our method can reliably determine galaxy physical properties from broadband photometry, including stellar mass within 0.05 dex, current SFR within 0.3 dex, and fractional stellar formation time within 0.2 dex, with a negligible fraction of catastrophic failures. When applied to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) main photometric galaxy sample with spectroscopic redshift, our estimates of stellar mass and SFR are consistent with the widely used MPA-JHU and GSWLC catalogs. Notably, using the derived SFHs of individual SDSS galaxies, we estimate the cosmic SFR density and stellar mass density with remarkable consistency to direct observations up to z ~ 6. This demonstrates a significant advancement in deriving SFHs from SEDs that closely align with observational data. Consequently, our method can reliably recover observed spectral indices such as Dn(4000) and HδA by synthesizing the full spectra of galaxies using the estimated SFHs and metal enrichment histories, relying solely on broadband photometry as input. Furthermore, this method is extremely computationally efficient compared to conventional approaches.

Citation

Gao, Z., Peng, Y., Wang, K., Ho, L. C., Renzini, A., Gallazzi, A. R., Mannucci, F., Mo, H., Jing, Y., Yang, X., Wang, E., Zhao, D., Dou, J., Gu, Q., Lyu, C., Maiolino, R., Wang, B., Wang, Y.-C., Xu, B., Yuan, F., & Zhu, X. (2025). From Halos to Galaxies. X. Decoding Galaxy SEDs with Physical Priors and Accurate Star Formation History Reconstruction. The Astrophysical Journal, 979(1), Article 66. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad9a5c

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 25, 2024
Online Publication Date Jan 17, 2025
Publication Date Jan 20, 2025
Deposit Date Jan 22, 2025
Publicly Available Date Jan 22, 2025
Journal The Astrophysical Journal
Electronic ISSN 1538-4357
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 979
Issue 1
Article Number 66
DOI https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad9a5c
Keywords Galaxy colors, Galaxy stellar content, Star formation, Galaxy ages, Galaxy evolution, Galaxy masses, Galaxy quenching, Galaxy properties
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3341939

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