📝 SummarXiv

Abstract

In the current era of JWST, we continue to uncover a wealth of information about the Universe deep into the Epoch of Reionization. In this work, we use a suite of simulations with 21cmSPACE, to explore the astrophysical properties of early galaxies and their imprint on high-redshift observables. Our analysis incorporates a range of multi-wavelength datasets including UV luminosity functions (UVLFs) from HST and JWST spanning $z=6-14.5$, the 21-cm global signal and power spectrum limits from SARAS 3 and HERA respectively, as well as present-day diffuse X-ray and radio backgrounds. We constrain a flexible halo-mass and redshift dependent model of star-formation efficiency (SFE), defined as the fraction of gas converted into stars, and find that it is best described by minimal redshift evolution at $z\approx 6-10$, followed by rapid evolution at $z\approx10-15$. Using Bayesian inference, we derive functional posteriors of the SFE, inferring that halos of mass $M_h=10^{10}\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$ have efficiencies of $\approx 1 - 2\%$ at $z\lesssim10$, $\approx8\%$ at $z=12$ and $\approx21\%$ at $z=15$. We also highlight the synergy between UVLFs and global 21-cm signal from SARAS 3 in constraining the minimum virial conditions required for star-formation in halos. In parallel, we find the X-ray and radio efficiencies of early galaxies to be $f_X = 0.8^{+9.7}_{-0.4}$ and $f_r \lesssim 16.9$ respectively, improving upon previous works that exclude UVLF data. Our results underscore the critical role of UVLFs in constraining early galaxy properties, and their synergy with 21-cm and other multi-wavelength observations.