Related papers: The First Structures in the Universe: Pop III Obje…
The primary concern of this thesis is to understand the formation and properties of the first galaxies, as well as the influence of the first stars in terms of radiative, mechanical and chemical feedback. In particular, we elucidate the…
Pop III stars are typically massive stars of primordial composition forming at the centers of the first collapsed dark matter structures. Here we estimate the optimal X-ray emission in the early universe for promoting the formation of Pop…
We calculate the contribution to the cosmic infrared background from very massive metal-free stars at high redshift. We explore two plausible star-formation models and two limiting cases for the reprocessing of the ionizing stellar…
Population III (or Pop. III) stars, the first stellar generation built up from metal-free primordial gas, first started to form at redshifts z ~ 30. They formed primarily in small dark matter halos with masses of a few million solar masses.…
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…
Extreme magnifications of distant objects by factors of several thousand have recently become a reality. Small very luminous compact objects, such as supernovae (SNe), giant stars at z=1-2, Pop III stars at z>7 and even gravitational waves…
We simulate a plausible cosmological model in considerable physical and numerical detail through the successive phases of reheating (at 10<z<20), formation of Pop III stars at z=15 (due to molecular hydrogen cooling), with subsequent…
We study the effects of the ionizing and dissociating photons produced by Pop III objects on the surrounding intergalactic medium. We find that the typical size of a H_2 photodissociated region is smaller than the mean distance between…
The first dwarf galaxies, which constitute the building blocks of the collapsed objects we find today in the Universe, had formed hundreds of millions of years after the big bang. This pedagogical review describes the early growth of their…
Massive Pop III stars can die as energetic supernovae that enrich the early universe with metals and determine the properties of the first galaxies. With masses of about $10^9$ Msun at $z \gtrsim 10$, these galaxies are believed to be the…
Population III (Pop III) stars are the first generation of stars to form in the universe, emerging from primordial gas composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. They play a crucial role in ending the cosmic dark ages and initiating…
The Pop III.1 theory for supermassive black hole (SMBH) formation predicts that a substantial fraction of the early universe was ionized by supermassive stars at redshifts $z\sim20-30$, an era we refer to as ``The Flash''. This is followed…
The cosmic dark ages are the mysterious epoch during which the pristine gas began to condense and ultimately form the first stars. Although these beginnings have long been a topic of theoretical interest, technology has only recently…
In reionized regions of the Universe, gas can only collapse to form stars in dark matter (DM) haloes which grow to be sufficiently massive. If star formation is prevented in the minihalo progenitors of such DM haloes at redshifts z >~ 20,…
Despite much recent theoretical and observational progress in our knowledge of the early universe, many fundamental questions remain only partially answered. Here, we review the latest achievements and persisting problems in the…
We describe how star formation is expected to proceed in the early metal-free Universe, focusing on the very first generations of stars. We then discuss how the star formation process may change as the effects of metallicity, external…
At present, there are several feasible observational probes of the first stars in the universe. Here, we examine the constraints on early stellar activity from the metallicity of the high-redshift Ly-$\alpha$ clouds, from the effects of…
The birth and death of the first generation of stars have important implications for the thermal state and chemical properties of the intergalactic medium (IGM) in the early universe. Sometime after recombination, the neutral, chemically…
We investigate the possibility of a supernova in supermassive ($5 \times 10^4 \;M_\odot$) population III stars induced by a general relativistic instability occurring in the helium burning phase. This explosion could occur via rapid helium…
The present paper discusses the main physical effects produced by stellar rotation on presupernovae, as well as observations which confirm these effects and their consequences for presupernova models. Rotation critically influences the mass…