The clustering properties of the first galaxies

Abstract

We study the clustering properties of the first galaxies formed in the Universe. We find that, due to chemical enrichment of the inter-stellar medium by isolated Population III stars formed in mini-halos at redshift z>30, the (chronologically) first galaxies are composed of metal-poor Population II stars and are highly clustered on small scales. In contrast, chemically pristine galaxies in halos with mass M~10^8 M_sun may form at z<20 in relatively underdense regions of the Universe. This occurs once self-enrichment by Population III in mini-halos is quenched by the build-up of an $H_2$ photo-dissociating radiative background in the Lyman-Werner bands. We find that these chemically pristine galaxies are spatially uncorrelated. Thus, we expect that deep fields with the James Webb Space Telescope may detect clusters of chemically enriched galaxies but individual chemically pristine objects. We predict that metal-free galaxies at 10 <= z <= 15$ have surface densities of about 80 per square arcmin and per unit redshift but most of them will be too faint even for JWST. However, the predicted density makes these objects interesting targets for searches behind lensing clusters.

11 pages including 4 figures. Originally submitted to ApJL on Sept. 11, 2009. Accepted for publication on May 19, 2010. Several changes in the text and the abstract. Clarifies derivation and better describes the difference in clustering between primordial metallicity objects and chemically enriched ones

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Cited by in corpus (16)

• The spectral evolution of the first galaxies. I. James Webb Space Telescope detection limits and color criteria for population III galaxies
• The spectral evolution of the first galaxies. II. Spectral signatures of Lyman continuum leakage from galaxies in the reionization epoch
• Diagnostics for PopIII galaxies and Direct Collapse Black Holes in the early universe
• Star Formation in the First Galaxies I: Collapse Delayed by Lyman-Werner Radiation
• The relative and absolute ages of old globular clusters in the LCDM framework
• Physical Characterization of Early Galaxies in the Webb's First Deep Field SMACS J0723.3-7323
• Detecting gravitationally lensed population III galaxies with the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope
• Primordial star clusters at extreme magnification
• The Challenges of Identifying Population III Stars in the Early Universe
• Conditions for detecting lensed Population III galaxies in blind surveys with the James Webb Space Telescope, the Roman Space Telescope and Euclid
• Observational constraints on supermassive dark stars
• Probing the High-Redshift Universe with SPICA: Toward the Epoch of Reionization and Beyond
• The HST colours of high-redshift population III galaxies with strong Lyman alpha emission
• Bubble mapping with the Square Kilometer Array -- I. Detecting galaxies with Euclid, JWST, WFIRST and ELT within ionized bubbles in the intergalactic medium at z>6
• A search for Population III galaxies in CLASH. I. Singly-imaged candidates at high redshift
• Challenges in modelling the rest-frame ultraviolet/optical spectra of galaxies at the high-redshift frontier