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arXiv · 2601.18871

A nuclear disc at Cosmic Noon: evidence of early bar-driven galaxy evolution

Zoe A. Le Conte·Dimitri A. Gadotti·Thomas Harvey·Leonardo Ferreira·Christopher J. Conselice·Taehyun Kim·Camila de Sá-Freitas·Francesca Fragkoudi·Justus Neumann·E. Athanassoula
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Abstract

Recent studies have revealed that bars can form as early as a few billion years after the Big Bang, already displaying characteristics similar to those of evolved bars in the Local Universe. Bars redistribute angular momentum throughout the galaxy, regulating star formation, AGN activity, and the formation of new stellar structures such as nuclear discs. However, the effects of bar-driven evolution on young galaxies are not yet known, as no evidence of bar-built stellar structures has ever been found beyond $z = 1$, until now. In this work, we present evidence for a bar-built, star-forming nuclear disc already present at redshift $z = 1.5$. This is the first evidence of a bar-built stellar structure at Cosmic Noon. We find that this nuclear disc is actively forming stars and is of similar size to some nuclear discs in nearby galaxies. This evidence solidifies the now emerging picture in which bars are fundamental not only in the late evolution of galaxies, but also in their early evolutionary stages. It changes the current paradigm by urging a revision of our picture of galaxy evolution beyond redshift one to include new considerations of the role of bars as early as a few billion years after the Big Bang.

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Zoe A. Le Conte, Dimitri A. Gadotti, Thomas Harvey, Leonardo Ferreira, Christopher J. Conselice, Taehyun Kim, Camila de Sá-Freitas, Francesca Fragkoudi, Justus Neumann, E. Athanassoula. 2026-01-26. A nuclear disc at Cosmic Noon: evidence of early bar-driven galaxy evolution. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag1122

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