Detecting Merger History from Multi-Band Bulge-Disk Decomposition of Disk Galaxies at 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 3.0

In this study, the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-South (GOODS-S) field is analyzed using images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Cosmic Assembly Near-IR Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS) photometric redshift catalog to study disk galaxies at 0.5 ≤ z ≤ 3.0 using five different observed NIRCam filters: F090W, F115W, F150W, F200W, and F356W. Single-component and bulge-disk analyses of the sample are performed using a Sérsic function with GALFIT to model the 2D light profiles. Sérsic indices of the bulge components and bulge-to-total (B/T) flux ratios are analyzed across redshifts for each band and compared across redshifts to determine the presence or absence of merger history in the formation of disk galaxies at different points in cosmic time. The bulge Sérsic indices exhibit high scatter with a tendency of classical bulges toward lower redshifts, indicating most hierarchical evolution could occur in nearby galaxies. Major concentrations of B/T ratios ≥ 0.5 are observed at z = 0.75 and z = 1.75, suggesting times of frequent merger activity at these redshifts. These results could indicate a greater number of nearby galaxies may have been formed by hierarchical processes through major mergers, while more distant galaxies may have been formed by secular processes.