A JWST View of Cosmic Star Formation from z∼0 to 9 with Hydrogen Recombination Lines in the COSMOS and GOODS-N fields

@misc{fu2026jwst,
  title = {{A JWST View of Cosmic Star Formation from $z\sim0$ to 9 with Hydrogen Recombination Lines in the COSMOS and GOODS-N fields}},
  author = {Shuqi Fu and Linhua Jiang and Christopher J. Conselice and Zijian Zhang and Danyang Jiang and Jie Chen and Louis Quilley and Fengwu Sun and Ronaldo Laishram and Alberto Traina and Bahareh S. Salmasi and Duncan Austin},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.19318},
  eprint = {2610.19318},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.19318},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - A JWST View of Cosmic Star Formation from z∼0 to 9 with Hydrogen Recombination Lines in the COSMOS and GOODS-N fields
AU  - Shuqi Fu
AU  - Linhua Jiang
AU  - Christopher J. Conselice
AU  - Zijian Zhang
AU  - Danyang Jiang
AU  - Jie Chen
AU  - Louis Quilley
AU  - Fengwu Sun
AU  - Ronaldo Laishram
AU  - Alberto Traina
AU  - Bahareh S. Salmasi
AU  - Duncan Austin
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/13
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.19318
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.19318
AB  - We combine wide-area COSMOS-3D observations with deeper GOODS-N data from JWST/NIRCam F444W wide-field slitless spectroscopy to trace cosmic star formation over z∼0--9. The observations cover approximately 0.33 deg^2 in COSMOS and 60.9 arcmin^2 in GOODS-N, with typical 3σ integrated line-flux limits of 3.2×10^−18 and 1.04×10^−18 erg s^−1 cm^−2, respectively. The common $3.9−−5.0\,μ$m wavelength window probes Brα, Brβ, Paα, Paβ, Hα, and Hβ across the local Universe, cosmic noon, and reionization. Our final sample contains 9146 galaxies, including 7883 in COSMOS and 1263 in GOODS-N. COSMOS constrains luminous emitters, while GOODS-N extends the luminosity functions toward fainter sources. We measure dust-corrected line luminosities, account for line-detection completeness, and convert the six lines to equivalent Hα luminosities assuming Case B recombination. Schechter fits reveal an increase in the characteristic Hα-equivalent luminosity toward cosmic noon. Integrating the resulting star formation rate functions above 0.24 M_⊙ yr^−1, we trace the cosmic star formation rate density from the local Universe to reionization. The combined Brackett, Paschen, and Balmer measurements are broadly consistent with the canonical UV- and IR-based cosmic star formation history at z≲6. Fixed-slope tests show that the Hβ estimate at z∼8 remains sensitive to the external photometric faint-end constraint and extrapolation below our spectroscopic limit. These measurements provide complementary constraints on the distribution and integrated rate of star formation across cosmic time.
ER  -