Related papers: Probing the existence of very massive first stars
The very massive first stars ($m>100\rm M_{\odot}$) were fundamental to the early phases of reionization, metal enrichment, and super-massive black hole formation. Among them, those with $140\leq\rm m/\rm M_{\odot}\leq260$ are predicted to…
The chemical abundance patterns observed in metal-poor Galactic halo stars contain the signature of the first supernovae, and thus allows us to probe the first stars that formed in the universe. We construct a theoretical model for the…
We report on a pilot study on identifying metal-poor stars pre-enriched by Pair-Instability Supernovae (PISNe). Very massive, first generation (Population III) stars (140M\odot \leq M \leq 260M\odot) end their lives as PISNe, which have…
Theoretical models predict that some of the first stars ended their lives as extremely energetic pair-instability supernovae (PISNe). With energies approaching 10^53 ergs, these supernovae are expected to be within the detection limits of…
Recent theory predicts that a first star is born with a massive initial mass of $\gtrsim$ 100 $M_\odot$. Pair instability supernova (PISN) is a common fate for such a massive star. Our final goal is to prove the existence of PISN and thus…
Unveiling the chemical fingerprints of the first (Pop III) stars is crucial for indirectly studying their properties and probing their massive nature. In particular, very massive Pop III stars explode as energetic Pair-Instability…
Using results of nucleosynthesis calculations for theoretical core-collapse supernova models with various progenitor's masses, it is shown that abundance patterns of C, Mg, Si, Ca, and H seen in extremely metal-deficient stars with [Fe/H] <…
CS 22949--037 is one of the most metal-poor giants known ([Fe/H]$ \approx-4.0$), and it exhibits large overabundances of carbon and nitrogen (Norris et al.). Using VLT-UVES spectra of unprecedented quality, regarding resolution and S/N…
Renewed interest in the first stars that were formed in the universe has led to the discovery of extremely iron-poor stars. Since several competing scenarios exist, our understanding of the mass range that determines the observed elemental…
Recent work presented increasing evidence of high, non-constant S/O abundance ratios observed in star-forming metal-poor galaxies, showing deviations from the constant canonical S/O across a large range of O/H abundance. Similar peculiar…
The first stars were born from chemically pristine gas. They were likely massive, and thus they rapidly exploded as supernovae, enriching the surrounding gas with the first heavy elements. In the Local Group, the chemical signatures of the…
Low-metallicity very massive stars with an initial mass of $\sim 140$--$260\, {\rm M_\odot}$ are expected to end their lives as pair-instability supernovae (PISNe). The abundance pattern resulting from a PISN differs drastically from…
Low-metallicity stars preserve the signatures of the first stellar nucleosynthesis events in the Galaxy, as their surface abundances reflect the composition of the interstellar medium from which they were born. Aside from primordial Big…
In recent observations of extremely metal-poor low-mass starburst galaxies, almost solar Fe/O ratios are reported, despite N/O ratios consistent with the low metallicity. We investigate if the peculiar Fe/O ratios can be a distinctive…
We calculate the mean evolution of the iron-peak abundance ratios [(Cr,Mn,Co,Zn)/Fe] in the Galaxy, using modern supernova and hypernova chemical yields and a Galactic Chemical Evolution code that assumes homogeneous chemical evolution. We…
We report the results of a coherent study of three chemically anomalous metal-poor ([Fe/H] ~ -2) stars. These objects exhibit unusually low abundances of Mg, Si, Ca (alpha-elements) and Sr, Y, and Ba (neutron-capture elements). Our analyses…
The metal-poor stars in the Galactic halo are thought to show the imprints of the first (PopIII) stars, and thus provide a glance at the first episodes of star formation. In this work, we aim at understanding whether all very metal-poor…
We use detailed nucleosynthesis calculations and a realistic prescription for the environment of the first stars to explore the first episodes of chemical enrichment that occurred during the dark ages. Based on these calculations, we…
We model early star forming regions and their chemical enrichment by Population III (Pop III) supernovae with nucleosynthetic yields featuring high [C/Fe] ratios and pair-instability supernova (PISN) signatures. We aim to test how well…
The initial mass function (IMF) of the first Pop III stars remains a persistent mystery. Their predicted massive nature implies the existence of stars exploding as pair-instability supernovae (PISN), but no observational evidence had been…