Related papers: Three Modes of Metal-Enriched Star Formation in th…
[abridged] The First Stars in the Universe form out of pristine primordial gas clouds that have been radiatively cooled to a few hundreds of degrees Kelvin either via molecular or atomic (Lyman-Alpha) hydrogen lines. This primordial mode of…
To constrain the nature of the very first stars, we investigate the collapse and fragmentation of primordial, metal-free gas clouds. We explore the physics of primordial star formation by means of three-dimensional simulations of the dark…
Lyman-Werner (LW) radiation photodissociating molecular hydrogen (H$_2$) influences the thermal and dynamical evolution of the Population III (Pop III) star-forming gas cloud. The effect of powerful LW radiation has been well investigated…
We review recent theoretical results on the formation of the first stars in the universe, and emphasize related open questions. In particular, we discuss the initial conditions for Population III star formation, as given by variants of the…
Recent discoveries of carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars like SMSS J031300.36-670839.3 provide increasing observational insights into the formation conditions of the first second-generation stars in the Universe, reflecting the chemical…
We review recent 3D cosmological hydrodynamic simulations of primordial star formation from cosmological initial conditions (Pop III.1) and from initial conditions that have been altered by radiative feedback from stellar sources (Pop…
The addition of metals to any gas can significantly alter its evolution by increasing the rate of radiative cooling. In star-forming environments, enhanced cooling can potentially lead to fragmentation and the formation of low-mass stars,…
Population III (Pop III) stars ended the cosmic Dark Ages and began early cosmological reionization and chemical enrichment. However, in spite of their importance to the evolution of the early Universe, their properties remain uncertain…
The thermal and fragmentation properties of star-forming clouds have important consequences on the corresponding characteristic stellar mass. The initial composition of the gas within these clouds is a record of the nucleosynthetic products…
We revisit the formation and evolution of the first galaxies using new hydrodynamic cosmological simulations with the ART code. Our simulations feature a recently developed model for H2 formation and dissociation, and a star formation…
We investigate the transition from primordial Population III (Pop III) star formation to normal Pop II star formation in the first galaxies using new cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. We find that while the first stars seed their host…
We provide a status report on our current understanding of the mass scales for Pop III.1 and Pop III.2 stars. Since the last review (Norman 2008), substantial progress has been made both numerically and analytically on the late stages of…
Extremely metal poor stars have been the focus of much recent attention owing to the expectation that their chemical abundances can shed light on the metal and dust yields of the earliest supernovae. We present our most realistic simulation…
The first stars hold intrinsic interest for their uniqueness and for their potential importance to galaxy formation, chemical enrichment, and feedback on the intergalactic medium (IGM). The metal-free composition of the first stars…
The first Pop III stars formed out of primordial, metal free gas, in minihalos at z>20, and kickstarted the cosmic processes of reionizaton and enrichment. While these stars are likely more massive than their enriched counterparts, the…
In cold dark matter cosmological models, the first stars to form are believed to do so within small protogalaxies. We wish to understand how the evolution of these early protogalaxies changes once the gas forming them has been enriched with…
The theory for the formation of the first population of stars (Pop III) predicts a IMF composed predominantly of high-mass stars, in contrast to the present-day IMF, which tends to yield stars with masses less than 1 M_Solar. The leading…
We present a simulation of the formation of the earliest Population II stars, starting from cosmological initial conditions and ending when metals created in the first supernovae are incorporated into a collapsing gas-cloud. This occurs…
We present a semi-analytic model of star formation in the early universe, beginning with the first metal-free stars. By employing a completely feedback-limited star formation prescription, stars form at maximum efficiency until the…
The first stars formed over five orders of magnitude in mass by accretion in primordial dark matter halos. We study the evolution of massive, very massive and supermassive primordial (Pop III) stars over nine orders of magnitude in…