Euclid preparation

LXXXVI. Cosmic Dawn Survey: Evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function across 0.2 < z ≤ 6.5 measured over 10 square degrees

¹ Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
² Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
³ Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), Denmark
⁴ Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Jagtvej 128, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
⁵ Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Peyton Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
⁶ Physics and Astronomy Department, University of California, 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521, USA
⁷ Caltech/IPAC, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
⁸ Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN)
⁹ ESAC/ESA, Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n., Urb. Villafranca del Castillo, 28692 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
¹⁰ School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, UK
¹¹ INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Via Brera 28, 20122 Milano, Italy
¹² INAF-Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna, Via Piero Gobetti 93/3, 40129 Bologna, Italy
¹³ IFPU, Institute for Fundamental Physics of the Universe, via Beirut 2, 34151 Trieste, Italy
¹⁴ INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Via G. B. Tiepolo 11, 34143 Trieste, Italy
¹⁵ INFN, Sezione di Trieste, Via Valerio 2, 34127 Trieste TS, Italy
¹⁶ SISSA, International School for Advanced Studies, Via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, TS, Italy
¹⁷ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Bologna, Via Gobetti 93/2, 40129 Bologna, Italy
¹⁸ INFN-Sezione di Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 6/2, 40127 Bologna, Italy
¹⁹ INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Via Osservatorio 20, 10025 Pino Torinese (TO), Italy
²⁰ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146 Genova, Italy
²¹ INFN-Sezione di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146 Genova, Italy
²² Department of Physics “E. Pancini”, University Federico II, Via Cinthia 6, 80126 Napoli, Italy
²³ INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Via Moiariello 16, 80131 Napoli, Italy
²⁴ Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Universidade do Porto, CAUP, Rua das Estrelas, PT4150-762 Porto, Portugal
²⁵ Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo de Alegre, 4150-007 Porto, Portugal
²⁶ Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, CNES, LAM, Marseille, France
²⁷ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Torino, Italy
²⁸ INFN-Sezione di Torino, Via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Torino, Italy
²⁹ European Space Agency/ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
³⁰ Institute Lorentz, Leiden University, Niels Bohrweg 2, 2333 CA, Leiden, The Netherlands
³¹ INAF-IASF Milano, Via Alfonso Corti 12, 20133 Milano, Italy
³² Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Avenida Complutense 40, 28040 Madrid, Spain
³³ Port d’Informació Científica, Campus UAB, C. Albareda s/n, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain
³⁴ Institute for Theoretical Particle Physics and Cosmology (TTK), RWTH Aachen University, 52056 Aachen, Germany
³⁵ Institute of Space Sciences (ICE, CSIC), Campus UAB, Carrer de Can Magrans, s/n, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
³⁶ Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC), Edifici RDIT, Campus UPC, 08860 Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain
³⁷ INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Via Frascati 33, 00078 Monteporzio Catone, Italy
³⁸ INFN section of Naples, Via Cinthia 6, 80126 Napoli, Italy
³⁹ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Augusto Righi” – Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 6/2, 40127 Bologna, Italy
⁴⁰ Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
⁴¹ Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
⁴² Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
⁴³ European Space Agency/ESRIN, Largo Galileo Galilei 1, 00044 Frascati, Roma, Italy
⁴⁴ Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS/IN2P3, IP2I Lyon, UMR 5822, Villeurbanne F-69100, France
⁴⁵ Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona (IEEC-UB), Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
⁴⁶ Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Passeig de Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
⁴⁷ UCB Lyon 1, CNRS/IN2P3, IUF, IP2I Lyon, 4 rue Enrico Fermi, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
⁴⁸ Departamento de Física, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Edifício C8, Campo Grande, PT1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
⁴⁹ Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
⁵⁰ Department of Astronomy, University of Geneva, ch. d’Ecogia 16, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
⁵¹ INAF-Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, Via del Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00100 Roma, Italy
⁵² Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Institut d’astrophysique spatiale, 91405 Orsay, France
⁵³ INFN-Padova, Via Marzolo 8, 35131 Padova, Italy
⁵⁴ Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM, Marseille, France
⁵⁵ Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris Cité, CEA, CNRS, AIM, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
⁵⁶ Space Science Data Center, Italian Space Agency, via del Politecnico snc, 00133 Roma, Italy
⁵⁷ INFN-Bologna, Via Irnerio 46, 40126 Bologna, Italy
⁵⁸ School of Physics, HH Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL, UK
⁵⁹ Universitäts-Sternwarte München, Fakultät für Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Scheinerstr. 1, 81679 München, Germany
⁶⁰ Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Giessenbachstr. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
⁶¹ INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Via dell’Osservatorio 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
⁶² Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre, 5071 W. Saanich Rd, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7, Canada
⁶³ Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1029 Blindern 0315, Oslo, Norway
⁶⁴ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
⁶⁵ Department of Physics, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YB, UK
⁶⁶ Felix Hormuth Engineering, Goethestr. 17, 69181 Leimen, Germany
⁶⁷ Technical University of Denmark, Elektrovej 327, 2800 Kgs, Lyngby, Denmark
⁶⁸ Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
⁶⁹ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
⁷⁰ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
⁷¹ Department of Physics and Helsinki Institute of Physics, Gustaf Hällströmin katu 2, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
⁷² Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 55, 2333 CC, Leiden, The Netherlands
⁷³ Université de Genève, Département de Physique Théorique and Centre for Astroparticle Physics, 24 quai Ernest-Ansermet, CH-1211 Genève 4, Switzerland
⁷⁴ Department of Physics, P.O. Box 64, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
⁷⁵ Helsinki Institute of Physics, Gustaf Hällströmin katu 2, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
⁷⁶ Laboratoire Univers et Théorie, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, Université Paris Cité, CNRS, 92190 Meudon, France
⁷⁷ SKAO, Jodrell Bank, Lower Withington, Macclesfield SK11 9FT, UK
⁷⁸ Centre de Calcul de l’IN2P3/CNRS, 21 avenue Pierre de Coubertin, 69627 Villeurbanne Cedex, France
⁷⁹ Dipartimento di Fisica “Aldo Pontremoli”, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy
⁸⁰ INFN-Sezione di Milano, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy
⁸¹ Universität Bonn, Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, Auf dem Hügel 71, 53121 Bonn, Germany
⁸² INFN-Sezione di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 2 – c/o Dipartimento di Fisica, Edificio G. Marconi, 00185 Roma, Italy
⁸³ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “Augusto Righi” – Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, via Piero Gobetti 93/2, 40129 Bologna, Italy
⁸⁴ Department of Physics, Institute for Computational Cosmology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
⁸⁵ Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, Bd de l’Observatoire, CS 34229 06304 Nice cedex 4, France
⁸⁶ Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, UMR 7095, CNRS, and Sorbonne Université, 98 bis boulevard Arago, 75014 Paris, France
⁸⁷ Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Astroparticule et Cosmologie, 75013 Paris, France
⁸⁸ CNRS-UCB International Research Laboratory, Centre Pierre Binétruy, IRL2007, CPB-IN2P3 Berkeley, USA
⁸⁹ Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, 98bis Boulevard Arago, 75014 Paris, France
⁹⁰ Institute of Physics, Laboratory of Astrophysics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Observatoire de Sauverny, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
⁹¹ Aurora Technology for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692 Madrid, Spain
⁹² Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain
⁹³ School of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics, Newcastle University, Herschel Building, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK
⁹⁴ DARK, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Jagtvej 155, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
⁹⁵ Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales – Centre spatial de Toulouse, 18 avenue Edouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
⁹⁶ Institute of Space Science, Str. Atomistilor, nr. 409 Măgurele, Ilfov 077125, Romania
⁹⁷ Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Calle Serrano 117, 28006 Madrid, Spain
⁹⁸ Universidad de La Laguna, Dpto. Astrofísica, E-38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
⁹⁹ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia “G. Galilei”, Università di Padova, Via Marzolo 8, 35131 Padova, Italy
¹⁰⁰ Institut für Theoretische Physik, University of Heidelberg, Philosophenweg 16, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
¹⁰¹ Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP), Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CNES, 14 Av. Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France
¹⁰² Université St Joseph; Faculty of Sciences, Beirut, Lebanon
¹⁰³ Departamento de Física, FCFM, Universidad de Chile, Blanco Encalada 2008, Santiago, Chile
¹⁰⁴ Universität Innsbruck, Institut für Astro- und Teilchenphysik, Technikerstr. 25/8, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
¹⁰⁵ Satlantis, University Science Park, Sede Bld 48940, Leioa-Bilbao, Spain
¹⁰⁶ Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
¹⁰⁷ Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-018 Lisboa, Portugal
¹⁰⁸ Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Departamento de Electrónica y Tecnología de Computadoras, Plaza del Hospital 1, 30202 Cartagena, Spain
¹⁰⁹ Centre for Information Technology, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 11044, 9700 CA, Groningen, The Netherlands
¹¹⁰ Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, PO Box 800, 9700 AV, Groningen, The Netherlands
¹¹¹ INAF, Istituto di Radioastronomia, Via Piero Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
¹¹² Astronomical Observatory of the Autonomous Region of the Aosta Valley (OAVdA), Loc. Lignan 39, I-11020 Nus (Aosta Valley), Italy
¹¹³ Department of Physics, Oxford University, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, UK
¹¹⁴ ICL, Junia, Université Catholique de Lille, LITL, 59000 Lille, France
¹¹⁵ ICSC – Centro Nazionale di Ricerca in High Performance Computing, Big Data e Quantum Computing, Via Magnanelli 2, Bologna, Italy
¹¹⁶ Instituto de Física Teórica UAM-CSIC, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
¹¹⁷ CERCA/ISO, Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland OH 44106, USA
¹¹⁸ Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Natural Sciences, Physics Department, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
¹¹⁹ Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
¹²⁰ Departamento de Física Fundamental, Universidad de Salamanca, Plaza de la Merced s/n, 37008 Salamanca, Spain
¹²¹ Dipartimento di Fisica e Scienze della Terra, Università degli Studi di Ferrara, Via Giuseppe Saragat 1, 44122 Ferrara, Italy
¹²² Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Ferrara, Via Giuseppe Saragat 1, 44122 Ferrara, Italy
¹²³ Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, Observatoire astronomique de Strasbourg, UMR 7550, 67000 Strasbourg, France
¹²⁴ Center for Data-Driven Discovery, Kavli IPMU (WPI), UTIAS, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8583, Japan
¹²⁵ Dipartimento di Fisica - Sezione di Astronomia, Università di Trieste, Via Tiepolo 11, 34131 Trieste, Italy
¹²⁶ California Institute of Technology, 1200 E California Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
¹²⁷ University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1562, USA
¹²⁸ Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
¹²⁹ Department of Mathematics and Physics E. De Giorgi, University of Salento, Via per Arnesano, CP-I93, 73100 Lecce, Italy
¹³⁰ INFN, Sezione di Lecce, Via per Arnesano, CP-193, 73100 Lecce, Italy
¹³¹ INAF-Sezione di Lecce, c/o Dipartimento Matematica e Fisica, Via per Arnesano, 73100 Lecce, Italy
¹³² Departamento Física Aplicada, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Campus Muralla del Mar, 30202 Cartagena, Murcia, Spain
¹³³ Instituto de Física de Cantabria, Edificio Juan Jordá, Avenida de los Castros, 39005 Santander, Spain
¹³⁴ Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 3FX, UK
¹³⁵ Department of Computer Science, Aalto University, PO Box 15400 Espoo FI-00 076, Finland
¹³⁶ Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, E-38205 La Laguna; Universidad de La Laguna, Dpto. Astrofísica, E-38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
¹³⁷ Ruhr University Bochum, Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, Astronomical Institute (AIRUB), German Centre for Cosmological Lensing (GCCL), 44780 Bochum, Germany
¹³⁸ Université PSL, Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, LERMA, 75014 Paris, France
¹³⁹ Université Paris-Cité, 5 Rue Thomas Mann, 75013 Paris, France
¹⁴⁰ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vesilinnantie 5, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
¹⁴¹ Serco for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692, Madrid, Spain
¹⁴² ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics, Melbourne, Australia
¹⁴³ Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122, Australia
¹⁴⁴ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Cape Town, 7535, South Africa
¹⁴⁵ DAMTP, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA, UK
¹⁴⁶ Kavli Institute for Cosmology Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
¹⁴⁷ Department of Physics, Centre for Extragalactic Astronomy, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
¹⁴⁸ IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
¹⁴⁹ Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmoparticle Physics, Department of Physics, Stockholm University, Stockholm SE-106 91, Sweden
¹⁵⁰ Astrophysics Group, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
¹⁵¹ Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, LPSC-IN2P3, 53, Avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France
¹⁵² INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy
¹⁵³ Dipartimento di Fisica, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185 Roma, Italy
¹⁵⁴ Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto, Rua das Estrelas, 4150-762 Porto, Portugal
¹⁵⁵ HE Space for European Space Agency (ESA), Camino bajo del Castillo s/n, Urbanizacion Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, 28692, Madrid, Spain
¹⁵⁶ Department of Astrophysics, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
¹⁵⁷ INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Via Brera 28, 20122 Milano, Italy, and INFN-Sezione di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146 Genova, Italy
¹⁵⁸ Theoretical astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, 751 37 Uppsala, Sweden
¹⁵⁹ Mathematical Institute, University of Leiden, Einsteinweg 55, 2333 CA, Leiden, The Netherlands
¹⁶⁰ School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Southampton, Highfield Campus, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
¹⁶¹ Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
¹⁶² Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
¹⁶³ Space physics and astronomy research unit, University of Oulu, Pentti Kaiteran katu 1, FI-90014 Oulu, Finland
¹⁶⁴ Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute, 162 5th Avenue, 10010 New York, NY, USA

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Received: 29 May 2025
Accepted: 7 November 2025

Abstract

The Cosmic Dawn Survey pre-launch catalogues cover an effective 10.13 deg² area with uniform deep Spitzer/IRAC data (m ∼ 25 mag, 5σ), the largest area covered to these depths at IR wavelengths. We used these data to gain new insight into the growth of stellar mass across cosmic history by characterising the evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function through 0.2 < z ≤ 6.5. The total volume (0.62 Gpc³) represents an order of magnitude increase compared to previous works that explored z > 3 and significantly reduces cosmic variance, thus yielding strong constraints on the abundance of galaxies above the characteristic stellar mass (ℳ^★) across this ten billion year period. The evolution of the galaxy stellar mass function is generally consistent with results from the literature but now provides firm estimates of the number density where only upper limits were previously available. Contrasting the galaxy stellar mass function with the dark matter halo mass function suggests that massive galaxies (ℳ ≳ 10¹¹ M_⊙) at z > 3.5 required integrated star-formation efficiencies of ℳ/(ℳ_hf_b)≳ 0.25–0.5, in excess of the commonly held view of a ‘universal peak efficiency’ from studies on the stellar-to-halo mass relation. Such increased efficiencies imply an evolving peak in the stellar-to-halo mass relation at z > 3.5 that can be maintained if feedback mechanisms from active galactic nuclei and stellar processes are ineffective at early times. In addition, a significant fraction of the most massive quiescent galaxies are observed to be in place by z ∼ 2.5–3. The apparent lack of change in their number density by z ∼ 0.2 is consistent with relatively little mass growth from mergers. Utilising the unique volume, we find evidence of an environmental dependence of the galaxy stellar mass function all the way through z ∼ 3.5 for the first time, though a more careful characterisation of the density field is ultimately required for confirmation.