Related papers: Do Small-Scale Dark Matter Fluctuations Govern the…
In order to constrain the initial mass function (IMF) of the first generation of stars (Population III), we investigate the fragmentation properties of metal-free gas in the context of a hierarchical model of structure formation. We…
The collapse and fragmentation of filamentary primordial gas clouds are explored using 1D and 2D hydrodynamical simulations coupled with the nonequilibrium processes of H2 formation. The simulations show that depending upon the initial…
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…
We report results from numerical simulations of star formation in the early universe that focus on the role of subsonic turbulence, and investigate whether it can induce fragmentation of the gas. We find that dense primordial gas is highly…
We report results from numerical simulations of star formation in the early universe that focus on the dynamical behavior of metal-free gas under different initial and environmental conditions. In particular we investigate the role of…
We present the first 3D simulations to include the effects of dark matter annihilation feedback during the collapse of primordial mini-halos. We begin our simulations from cosmological initial conditions and account for dark matter…
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…
The thermodynamical evolution of gas during the collapse of the primordial star-forming cloud depends significantly on the initial degree of rotation. However, there is no clear understanding of how the initial rotation can affect the…
It has been shown that the behaviour of primordial gas collapsing in a dark matter minihalo can depend on the adopted choice of 3-body H$_2$ formation rate. The uncertainties in this rate span two orders of magnitude in the current…
(abridged) We use large cosmological simulations to study the origin of primordial star-forming clouds in a Lambda CDM universe, by following the formation of dark matter halos and the cooling of gas within them. To model the physics of…
The first stars to form in the Universe -- the so-called Population III stars -- bring an end to the cosmological Dark Ages, and exert an important influence on the formation of subsequent generations of stars and on the assembly of the…
We briefly review the motivations for studying the formation of the first ``Population III'' stars and present recent results from our numerical simulations in this area. We discuss the new questions raised as a result of the simulations…
We report results from numerical simulations of star formation in the early universe that focus on gas at very high densities and very low metallicities. We argue that the gas in the central regions of protogalactic halos will fragment as…
We discuss the fragmentation of primordial gas clouds in the universe after decoupling. Comparing the time scale of collapse with that of fragmentation, we obtain the typical mass of a fragment both numerically and analytically. It is shown…
In the context of star formation through fragmentation of an extremely metal-deficient protogalactic cloud, the gravitational collapse of filamentary gas clouds is explored with 1D numerical hydrodynamics coupled with non-equilibrium…
The conditions for the fragmentation of the baryonic component during merging of dark matter halos in the early Universe are studied. We assume that the baryonic component undergoes a shock compression. The characteristic masses of…
We investigate the thermal and dynamical evolution of primordial gas clouds in the universe after decoupling. Comparing the time-scale of dynamical evolution with that of fragmentation, we can estimate the typical fragmentation scale. We…
The annihilation of weakly interacting massive particles can provide an important heat source for the first (Pop. III) stars, potentially leading to a new phase of stellar evolution known as a "Dark Star". When dark matter (DM) capture via…
We conduct a comprehensive theoretical and numerical investigation of the pollution of pristine gas in turbulent flows, designed to provide new tools for modeling the evolution of the first generation of stars. The properties of such…
The evolution of self-gravitating clouds of isothermal gas forms the basis of many star formation theories. Therefore it is important to know under what conditions such a cloud will undergo homologous collapse into a single, massive object,…