Protostar Formation in the Early Universe

Abstract

The nature of the first generation of stars in the Universe remains largely unknown. Observations imply the existence of massive primordial stars early in the history of the universe, and the standard theory for the growth of cosmic structure predicts that structures grow hierarchically through gravitational instability. We have developed an ab initio computer simulation of the formation of primordial stars that follows the relevant atomic and molecular processes in a primordial gas in an expanding universe. The results show that primeval density fluctuations left over from the Big Bang can drive the formation of a tiny protostar with a mass of just one percent that of the Sun. The protostar is a seed for the subsequent formation of a massive primordial star.

Science, August 1st issue. Matched to the published version. The SOM is found at http://www.a.phys.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~nyoshida/protostar.html

References in corpus (3)

• Nucleosynthetic signatures of the first stars
• Dark matter and the first stars: a new phase of stellar evolution
• Lighting the Universe with filaments

Cited by in corpus (6)

• The Formation of Population III Binaries from Cosmological Initial Conditions
• The Highly Unusual Chemical Composition of the Hercules Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy
• The influence of magnetic fields on the thermodynamics of primordial star formation
• Implications of primordial black holes on the first stars and the origin of the super--massive black holes
• The 21cm Signature of Early Relic \HII Regions
• Chemical Yields from Supernovae and Hypernovae