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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Ionizing Efficiency Of The First Stars, Aparna Venkatesan, James W. Truran
The Ionizing Efficiency Of The First Stars, Aparna Venkatesan, James W. Truran
Physics and Astronomy
We investigate whether a single population of first stars could have influenced both the metal enrichment and reionization of the high-redshift intergalactic medium (IGM), by calculating the generated ionizing radiation per unit metal yield as a function of the metallicity of stellar populations. We examine the relation between the ionizing radiation and carbon created by the first stars, since the evidence for the widespread enrichment of the IGM at redshifts z about 3-4 comes from the detection of C IV absorption. We find that the number of ionizing photons per baryon generated in association with the detected IGM metallicity may …
Feedback From The First Supernovae In Protogalaxies: The Fate Of The Generated Metals, Keiichi Wada, Aparna Venkatesan
Feedback From The First Supernovae In Protogalaxies: The Fate Of The Generated Metals, Keiichi Wada, Aparna Venkatesan
Physics and Astronomy
We investigate the chemo-dynamical effects of multiple supernova explosions in the central region of primordial galaxies using three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of the inhomogenous interstellar medium down to parsec-scales. We find that the final protogalactic structure and metal distribution depend strongly on the number of SNe. Specifically, 1) 1000 SNe after an instantaneous burst of star formation are sufficient to almost completely blow away the gas in these systems, whereas 2) 100 SN explosions trigger the collapse of the protogalactic cloud, leading to the formation of a cold, dense clumpy disk (n > 300 cm^-3) with metallicity, Z = 4 10^-4 Z_sun. …
Cosmological Effects Of The First Stars: Evolving Spectra Of Population Iii, Jason Tumlinson, J Shull, Aparna Venkatesan
Cosmological Effects Of The First Stars: Evolving Spectra Of Population Iii, Jason Tumlinson, J Shull, Aparna Venkatesan
Physics and Astronomy
The first stars hold intrinsic interest for their uniqueness and for their potentially important contributions to galaxy formation, chemical enrichment, and feedback on the intergalactic medium (IGM). Although the sources of cosmological reionization are unknown at present, the declining population of large bright quasars at redshifts z > 3 implies that stars are the leading candidates for the sources that reionized the hydrogen in the IGM by z ~ 6. The metal-free composition of the first stars restricts the stellar energy source to proton-proton burning rather than the more efficient CNO cycle. Consequently, they are hotter, smaller, and have harder spectra …
Evolving Spectra Of Population Iii Stars: Consequences For Cosmological Reionization, Aparna Venkatesan, Jason Tumlinson, J Shull
Evolving Spectra Of Population Iii Stars: Consequences For Cosmological Reionization, Aparna Venkatesan, Jason Tumlinson, J Shull
Physics and Astronomy
We examine the significance of the first metal-free stars (Population III) for the cosmological reionization of H I and He II. These stars have unusually hard spectra, with the integrated ionizing photon rates from a Population III stellar cluster for H I and He II being 1.6 and 105 times stronger, respectively, than those from a Population II cluster. For the currently favored cosmology, we find that Population III stars alone can reionize H I at redshifts of z 9 and 4.7 and He II at z 5.1 and 0.7 for continuous and instantaneous modes of star formation, respectively. …