High-Redshift Galaxies from Early JWST Observations: Constraints on Dark Energy Models

Abstract

Early observations with JWST have led to the discovery of an unexpected large density (stellar mass density $\rho_*\approx 10^{6}\,M_{\odot}\,Mpc^{-3}$) of massive galaxies (stellar masses $M_*\geq 10^{10.5}M_{\odot}$) at extremely high redshifts $z\approx 10$. We show that - under the most conservative assumptions, and independently of the baryon physics involved in galaxy formation - such abundance is not only in tension with the standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmology, but provides extremely tight constraints on the expansion history of the Universe and on the growth factors corresponding to a wide class of Dark Energy (DE) models. The constraints we derive rule out with high ($>2\sigma$) confidence level a major portion of the parameter space of Dynamical DE models allowed (or even favoured) by existing cosmological probes.