COSMOS-3D: Diverse Environments and Hot-dust Signatures among Dusty Star-forming Galaxies at z = 4.9-7.2
astro-ph.GA, astro-ph.CO
Submitted: 2026-09-28
Updated: 2026-09-28
Comments: 31 pages, 8 figures, and 2 tables in the main text. Revised following the first referee report
Code: https://github.com/fengwusun/nircam
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
The gist: Dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) are expected to trace early massive-halo assembly, but the connection between dust-obscured star formation, morphology, hot dust, and environment remains unclear
Terminology
Abstract
Dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) are expected to trace early massive-halo assembly, but the connection between dust-obscured star formation, morphology, hot dust, and environment remains unclear at z >4. We combine JWST/NIRCam F444W grism spectroscopy from COSMOS-3D with MIRI F1000W/F2100W imaging and a mixed ALMA-selected and ALMA-followed dusty-galaxy sample from CRISTAL, CHAMPS, REBELS, and A3COSMOS to study 18 DSFGs or DSFG candidates at z=4.9-7.2. We compare their environments with the parent spectroscopically confirmed emission-line sample and the COSMOS-Web photo-z galaxy sample using separate and combined overdensity estimators. The parent narrow-line H α sample has a median observed, dust-uncorrected SFR Hα=11.7 M yr-1. Within R=0.5 pMpc, DSFGs have a median δ spec+phot=0.92+0.06-0.16, compared with 0.80+0.05-0.04 for HAEs, with a stronger contrast on smaller scales. The strongest compact overdensities are associated with merger/interacting morphology: merging DSFGs reach δ spec+phot=4.70+1.61-1.51 within R=0.5 pMpc. In contrast, MIRI-bright DSFGs do not show an enhanced number of nearby visible H α-emitting companions, and their F2100W fluxes are difficult to explain with the 3.3 μ m PAH feature alone, suggesting an additional hot-dust component. These results are consistent with a possible phase-dependent picture in which the compact line-emitter core, merger-driven dusty phase, and MIRI-bright hot-dust phase need not be spatially or temporally identical during early structure growth.
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