Related papers: Finding the First Cosmic Explosions I: Pair-Instab…
We analyze the time evolution of the luminosity of a cluster of Population III protostars formed in the early universe. We argue from the Jeans criterion that primordial gas can collapse to form a cluster of first stars that evolve…
The deepest space and ground-based observations find metal-enriched galaxies at cosmic times when the Universe was <1 Gyr old. These stellar populations had to be preceded by the metal-free first stars, Population III. Recent cosmic…
Pop III stars are the first stars in the universe. They do not contain metals and their formation and evolution may be different from that of stars of later generations. In fact, according to the theory of star formation, Pop III stars…
The statistics of black holes and their masses strongly suggests that their mass distribution has a cutoff towards lower masses near $3 \times 10^{6}$ M$_{\odot}$. This is consistent with a classical formation mechanism from the…
We compare elemental abundance patterns of $\sim 200$ extremely metal-poor (EMP; [Fe/H]$<-3$) stars with supernova yields of metal-free stars in order to obtain insights into the characteristic masses of the first (Population III or Pop…
It has been theoretically predicted many decades ago that extremely massive stars that develop large oxygen cores will become dynamically unstable, due to electron-positron pair production. The collapse of such oxygen cores leads to…
We study Population III (Pop III) binary remnant mergers in nuclear star clusters (NSCs) with a semi-analytical approach for early structure formation. Within this framework, we keep track of the dynamics of Pop III binary (compact object)…
Finding the first generation of stars formed out of pristine gas in the early Universe, known as Population III (PopIII) stars, is one of the most important goals of modern astrophysics. Recent models have suggested that PopIII stars may…
The first billion years in the evolution of the Universe mark the formation of the first stars, black holes and galaxies. The radiation from the first galaxies plays an important role in determining the final state of primordial gas…
We discuss the results of recent 3D simulations of first structure formation in relationship to the formation of the first stars. On the basis of a new, high-resolution AMR simulation (spatial dynamic range = 30,000,000), we conclude that…
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 perform a large set of radiation hydrodynamics simulations of primordial star formation in a fully cosmological context. Our statistical sample of 100 First Stars show that the first generation of stars have a wide mass distribution…
Despite extensive search efforts, direct observations of the first (Pop III) stars have not yet succeeded. Theoretical studies have suggested that late Pop III star formation is still possible in pristine clouds of high-mass galaxies,…
Metals from Population III (Pop III) supernovae led to the formation of less massive Pop II stars in the early universe, altering the course of evolution of primeval galaxies and cosmological reionization. There are a variety of scenarios…
The first stars are known to form in primordial gas, either in minihalos with about $10^6$~M$_\odot$ or so-called atomic cooling halos of about $10^8$~M$_\odot$. Simulations have shown that gravitational collapse and disk formation in…
I hypothesize a physical explanation for the "Little Red Dots" (LRDs) discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The first star formation in the universe occurs in dense clusters, some of which may undergo runaway collapse and…
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 data from the James Webb Space Telescope suggest that there are realistic prospects for detecting the earliest generation of stars at redshift ~20. These metal-poor, gaseous Population III (Pop III) stars are likely in the mass range…
Supernovae (SNe) could be powerful probes of the properties of stars and galaxies at high redshifts in future surveys. Wide fields and longer exposure times are required to offset diminishing star formation rates and lower fluxes to detect…
We show that the mere observation of the first stars (Pop III stars) in the universe can be used to place tight constraints on the strength of the interaction between dark matter and regular, baryonic matter. We apply this technique to a…