A self-consistent semi-analytic model for Population III star formation in minihalos

Abstract

The formation of the first stars marks a watershed moment in the history of our universe. As the first luminous structures, these stars (also known as Population III, or Pop III stars) seed the first galaxies and begin the process of reionization. We construct an analytic model to self-consistently trace the formation of Pop III stars inside minihalos in the presence of the fluctuating ultraviolet background, relic dark matter-baryon relative velocities from the early universe, and an X-ray background, which largely work to suppress cooling of gas and delay the formation of this first generation of stars. We demonstrate the utility of this framework in a semi-analytic model for early star formation that also follows the transition between Pop III and Pop II star formation inside these halos. Using our new prescription for the criteria allowing Pop III star formation, we follow a population of dark matter halos from $z=50$ through $z=6$ and examine the global star formation history, finding that each process defines its own key epoch: (i) the stream velocity dominates at the highest redshifts ($z\gtrsim 30$), (ii) the UV background sets the tone at intermediate times ($30\gtrsim z\gtrsim 15$), and (iii) X-rays control the end of Pop III star formation at the latest times ($z\lesssim 15$). In all of our models, Pop III stars continue to form down to $z\sim 7-10$, when their supernovae will be potentially observable with forthcoming instruments. Finally, we identify the signatures of variations in the Pop III physics in the global 21-cm spin-flip signal of atomic hydrogen.

arXiv comment19 pages, 14 figures, published in MNRAS

References in corpus (98)

• SciPy 1.0--Fundamental Algorithms for Scientific Computing in Python
• Astropy: A Community Python Package for Astronomy
• The NumPy array: a structure for efficient numerical computation
• Galactic Stellar and Substellar Initial Mass Function
• How Massive Single Stars End their Life
• Atomic Data for Astrophysics. II. New Analytic Fits for Photoionization Cross Sections of Atoms and Ions
• The Nucleosynthetic Signature of Population III
• Cosmology at Low Frequencies: The 21 cm Transition and the High-Redshift Universe
• In the Beginning: The First Sources of Light and the Reionization of the Universe
• Radiative transfer in a clumpy universe: IV. New synthesis models of the cosmic UV/X-ray background
• The Formation of the First Stars. I. The Primordial Star Forming Cloud
• How small were the first cosmological objects?
• Structure of Stationary Photodissociation Fronts
• Effect of Reionization on the Structure Formation in the Universe
• Nucleosynthesis and Evolution of Massive Metal-Free Stars
• X-ray emission from star-forming galaxies - I. High-mass X-ray binaries
• A New Calculation of the Recombination Epoch
• Pair-Instability Supernovae, Gravity Waves, and Gamma-Ray Transients
• Simulations on a Moving Mesh: The Clustered Formation of Population III Protostars
• Relative velocity of dark matter and baryonic fluids and the formation of the first structures
• The Formation of the First Low-Mass Stars From Gas With Low Carbon and Oxygen Abundances
• Probing the Universe with the Lyman-alpha Forest: I. Hydrodynamics of the Low Density IGM
• Simulations of Pregalactic Structure Formation with Radiative Feedback
• The Radiative Feedback of the First Cosmological Objects
• Cosmological Formation of Low-Mass Objects
• Formation of the First Stars
• Early Metal Enrichment of the Intergalactic Medium by Pregalactic Outflows
• Primordial Star Formation under the Influence of Far Ultraviolet Radiation: 1540 Cosmological Halos and the Stellar Mass Distribution
• Supermassive Black Hole Formation by Direct Collapse: Keeping Protogalactic Gas H_2--Free in Dark Matter Halos with Virial Temperatures T_vir >~ 10^4 K
• The Global 21 Centimeter Background from High Redshifts
• Detecting the Earliest Galaxies Through Two New Sources of 21cm Fluctuations
• X-ray Binary Evolution Across Cosmic Time
• Wouthuysen-Field coupling strength and application to high-redshift 21 cm radiation
• Pair Instability Supernovae: Light Curves, Spectra, and Shock Breakout
• The Formation of the First Stars II. Radiative Feedback Processes and Implications for the Initial Mass Function
• The First Stars: Mass Growth Under Protostellar Feedback
• Population III star formation in a Lambda CDM universe, II: Effects of a photodissociating background
• The Evolution of Normal Galaxy X-ray Emission Through Cosmic History: Constraints from the 6 Ms Chandra Deep Field-South
• X-ray Preionisation Powered by Accretion on the First Black Holes. I: a Model for the WMAP Polarisation Measurement
• Photodissociation of H2 in Protogalaxies: Modeling Self-Shielding in 3D Simulations
• Signatures of X-rays in the early Universe
• The transition from population III to population II-I star formation
• Impact of the Relative Motion between the Dark Matter and Baryons on the First Stars
• Suppression of H_2 Cooling in the Ultraviolet Background
• The Chemistry of the Early Universe
• The Formation Rates of Population III Stars and Chemical Enrichment of Halos during the Reionization Era
• H_2 Cooling of Primordial Gas Triggered by UV Irradiation
• Effects of a Soft X-ray Background on Structure Formation at High Redshift
• Effect of Streaming Motion of Baryons Relative to Dark Matter on the Formation of the First Stars
• Mixing Metals in the Early Universe
• Descending from on high: Lyman series cascades and spin-kinetic temperature coupling in the 21 cm line
• The Impact of the First Galaxies on Cosmic Dawn and Reionization
• The interplay between chemical and mechanical feedback from the first generation of stars
• Large-scale BAO signatures of the smallest galaxies
• Secondary ionization and heating by fast electrons
• Constraints on X-ray Emissions from the Reionization Era
• Simulations of Early Baryonic Structure Formation with Stream Velocity: II. The Gas Fraction
• The impact of the supersonic baryon-dark matter velocity difference on the z~20 21cm background
• The impact of primordial supersonic flows on early structure formation, reionization and the lowest-mass dwarf galaxies
• Metal-Free Gas Supply at the Edge of Reionization: Late-Epoch Population III Star Formation
• Metal Absorption Lines as Probes of the Intergalactic Medium Prior to the Reionization Epoch
• When did Population III star formation end?
• The Source Density and Observability of Pair-Instability Supernovae from the First Stars
• The influence of streaming velocities and Lyman-Werner radiation on the formation of the first stars
• Simulations of Early Baryonic Structure Formation with Stream Velocity: I. Halo Abundance
• SCORCH I: The Galaxy-Halo Connection in the First Billion Years
• The formation of the first cosmic structures and the physics of the z~20 Universe
• Late Pop III Star Formation During the Epoch of Reionization: Results from the Renaissance Simulations
• Legacy of star formation in the pre-reionization universe
• Resolving the unresolved cosmic X-ray background in the Chandra Deep Fields
• The Birth Mass Function of Pop III Stars
• Baseline Metal Enrichment from Population III Star Formation in Cosmological Volume Simulations
• A Minimalist Feedback-Regulated Model for Galaxy Formation During the Epoch of Reionization
• Interpreting LOFAR 21-cm signal upper limits at z~9.1 in the context of high-z galaxy and reionisation observations
• The formation and gas content of high redshift galaxies and minihalos
• High-Redshift Star Formation in a Time-Dependent Lyman-Werner Background
• The critical dark matter halo mass for Population III star formation: dependence on Lyman-Werner radiation, baryon-dark matter streaming velocity, and redshift
• The Persistence of Population III Star Formation
• The Effects of Population III X-ray and Radio Backgrounds on the Cosmological 21-cm Signal
• Unique Signatures of Population III Stars in the Global 21-cm Signal
• Self-consistent Semi-analytic Modeling of Feedback During Primordial Star Formation and Reionization
• A No-Go Theorem for Direct Collapse Black Holes Without a Strong Ultraviolet Background
• Following the Cosmic Evolution of Pristine Gas II: The search for Pop III-Bright Galaxies
• Fluctuations in the High-Redshift Lyman-Werner and Lyman-alpha Radiation Backgrounds
• Chemical enrichment of Damped Lyman Alpha systems as a direct constraint on Population III star formation
• Supersonic Relative Velocity between Dark Matter and Baryons: A Review
• Self-consistent semi-analytic models of the first stars
• A needle in a haystack? Catching Pop III stars in the Epoch of Reionization: I. Pop III star forming environments
• Starbursts in low-mass haloes at Cosmic Dawn. I. The critical halo mass for star formation
• X-ray Twinkles and Pop III Stars
• The First Stars: formation under X-ray feedback
• H2 self-shielding with non-LTE rovibrational populations: implications for cooling in protogalaxies
• Modelling the cosmological Lyman-Werner background radiation field in the Early Universe
• The role of Pop III stars and early black holes in the 21cm signal from Cosmic Dawn
• Photoevaporation of Minihalos during Cosmic Reionization: Primordial and Metal-Enriched Halos
• The extent of intergalactic metal enrichment from galactic winds during the Cosmic Dawn
• The Supersonic Project: The eccentricity and rotational support of SIGOs and DM GHOSts
• The Supersonic Project: The Early Evolutionary Path of SIGOs

Cited by in corpus (12)

• A-SLOTH reveals the nature of the first stars
• Signatures of Cosmic Ray Heating in 21-cm Observables
• Gravitational waves from mergers of Population III binary black holes: roles played by two evolution channels
• The Impact of Molecular Hydrogen Cooling on the Galaxy Formation Threshold
• A Global Semi-Analytic Model of the First Stars and Galaxies Including Dark Matter Halo Merger Histories
• Aeos: Transport of Metals from Minihalos following Population III Stellar Feedback
• The influence of baryons on low-mass haloes
• The Effects of Dark Matter Annihilation and Dark Matter-Baryon Velocity Offsets at Cosmic Dawn
• Direct Collapse Black Hole Candidates from Decaying Dark Matter
• The Baryon Budget of Galaxies across the First Billion Years
• From Dark Matter Minihalos to Large-Scale Radiative Feedback: A Self-Consistent 3D Simulation of the First Stars and Galaxies using Neural Networks
• Primordial black holes and the velocity acoustic oscillations features in 21 cm signals from the cosmic Dark Ages