No Arabic abstract
We simulate the formation of a low metallicity (0.01 Zsun) stellar cluster in a dwarf galaxy at redshift z~14. Beginning with cosmological initial conditions, the simulation utilizes adaptive mesh refinement and sink particles to follow the collapse and evolution of gas past the opacity limit for fragmentation, thus resolving the formation of individual protostellar cores. A time- and location-dependent protostellar radiation field, which heats the gas by absorption on dust, is computed by integration of protostellar evolutionary tracks with the MESA code. The simulation also includes a robust non-equilibrium chemical network that self-consistently treats gas thermodynamics and dust-gas coupling. The system is evolved for 18 kyr after the first protostellar source has formed. In this time span, 30 sink particles representing protostellar cores form with a total mass of 81 Msun. Their masses range from ~0.1 Msun to 14.4 Msun with a median mass ~0.5-1 Msun. Massive protostars grow by competitive accretion while lower-mass protostars are stunted in growth by close encounters and many-body ejections. In the regime explored here, the characteristic mass scale is determined by the temperature floor set by the cosmic microwave background and by the onset of efficient dust-gas coupling. It seems unlikely that host galaxies of the first bursts of metal-enriched star formation will be detectable with the James Webb Space Telescope or other next-generation infrared observatories. Instead, the most promising access route to the dawn of cosmic star formation may lie in the scrutiny of metal-poor, ancient stellar populations in the Galactic neighborhood. The observable targets that correspond to the system simulated here are ultra-faint dwarf satellite galaxies such as Bootes II, Segue I and II, and Willman I.
We present the results of cosmological hydrodynamic simulations with zoom-in initial conditions, and investigate the formation of the first galaxies and their evolution towards observable galaxies at $z sim 6$. We focus on three different galaxies which end up in halos with masses $M_{h} = 2.4 times10^{10}~h^{-1}; M_{odot}$ (Halo-10), $1.6 times10^{11}~h^{-1}; M_{odot}$ (Halo-11) and $0.7 times10^{12}~h^{-1} M_{odot}$ (Halo-12) at z=6. Our simulations also probe impacts of different sub-grid assumptions, i.e., SF efficiency and cosmic reionization, on SF histories in the first galaxies. We find that star formation occurs intermittently due to supernova (SN) feedback at z > 10, and then it proceeds more smoothly as the halo mass grows at lower redshifts. Galactic disks are destroyed due to SN feedback, while galaxies in simulations with no-feedback or lower SF efficiency models can sustain galactic disk for long periods > 10 Myr. The expulsion of gas at the galactic center also affects the inner dark matter density profile. However, SN feedback does not seem to keep the shallow profile of dark matter for a long period. Our simulated galaxies in Halo-11 and Halo-12 reproduce the star formation rates (SFR) and stellar masses of observed Lyman-$alpha$ emitters (LAEs) at z = 7-8 fairly well given observational uncertainties. In addition, we investigate the effect of UV background radiation on star formation as an external feedback source, and find that earlier reionization extends the quenching time of star formation due to photo-ionization heating, but does not affect the stellar mass at z=6.
Star clusters form in dense, hierarchically collapsing gas clouds. Bulk kinetic energy is transformed to turbulence with stars forming from cores fed by filaments. In the most compact regions, stellar feedback is least effective in removing the gas and stars may form very efficiently. These are also the regions where, in high-mass clusters, ejecta from some kind of high-mass stars are effectively captured during the formation phase of some of the low mass stars and effectively channeled into the latter to form multiple populations. Star formation epochs in star clusters are generally set by gas flows that determine the abundance of gas in the cluster. We argue that there is likely only one star formation epoch after which clusters remain essentially clear of gas by cluster winds. Collisional dynamics is important in this phase leading to core collapse, expansion and eventual dispersion of every cluster. We review recent developments in the field with a focus on theoretical work.
HD dominates the cooling of primordial clouds with enhanced ionization, e.g. shock-heated clouds in structure formation or supernova remnants, relic HII regions of Pop III stars, and clouds with cosmic-ray (CR) irradiation. There, the temperature decreases to several 10 K and the characteristic stellar mass decreases to $sim 10 {rm M}_{odot}$, in contrast with first stars formed from undisturbed pristine clouds ($sim 100 {rm M}_{odot}$). However, without CR irradiation, even weak far ultra-violet (FUV) irradiation suppresses HD formation/cooling. Here, we examine conditions for HD cooling in primordial clouds including both FUV and CR feedback. At the beginning of collapse, the shock-compressed gas cools with its density increasing, while the relic HII region gas cools at a constant density. Moreover, shocks tend to occur in denser environments than HII regions. Owing to the higher column density and the more effective shielding, the critical FUV intensity for HD cooling in a shock-compressed gas becomes $sim 10$ times higher than in relic HII regions. Consequently, in the shock-compressed gas, the critical FUV intensity exceeds the background level for most of the redshift we consider ($6 lesssim z lesssim 15$), while in relic HII regions, HD cooling becomes effective after the CR intensity increases enough at $z lesssim 10$. Our result suggests that less massive ($sim 10 {rm M}_{odot}$) Pop III stars may be more common than previously considered and could be the dominant population of Pop III stars.
Within standard $Lambda$CDM cosmology, Population III (Pop III) star formation in minihalos of mass $M_mathrm{halo}gtrsim 5times10^5$ M$_odot$ provides the first stellar sources of Lyman$alpha$ (Ly$alpha$) photons. The Experiment to Detect the Global Epoch of Reionization Signature (EDGES) has measured a strong absorption signal of the redshifted 21 cm radiation from neutral hydrogen at $zapprox 17$, requiring efficient formation of massive stars before then. In this paper, we investigate whether star formation in minihalos plays a significant role in establishing the early Ly$alpha$ background required to produce the EDGES absorption feature. We find that Pop III stars are important in providing the necessary Ly$alpha$-flux at high redshifts, and derive a best-fitting average Pop III stellar mass of $sim$ 750M$_odot{}$ per minihalo, corresponding to a star formation efficiency of 0.1%. Further, it is important to include baryon-dark matter streaming velocities in the calculation, to limit the efficiency of Pop~III star formation in minihalos. Without this effect, the cosmic dawn coupling between 21 cm spin temperature and that of the gas would occur at redshifts higher than what is implied by EDGES.
We have updated the Munich galaxy formation model to the Planck first-year cosmology, while modifying the treatment of baryonic processes to reproduce recent data on the abundance and passive fractions of galaxies from z= 3 down to z=0. Matching these more extensive and more precise observational results requires us to delay the reincorporation of wind ejecta, to lower the surface density threshold for turning cold gas into stars, to eliminate ram-pressure stripping in haloes less massive than ~10^14 Msun, and to modify our model for radio mode feedback. These changes cure the most obvious failings of our previous models, namely the overly early formation of low-mass galaxies and the overly large fraction of them that are passive at late times. The new model is calibrated to reproduce the observed evolution both of the stellar mass function and of the distribution of star formation rate at each stellar mass. Massive galaxies (M>10^11 [Msun]) assemble most of their mass before z=1 and are predominantly old and passive at z=0, while lower mass galaxies assemble later and, for M<10^9.5 (Msun), are still predominantly blue and star forming at z=0. This phenomenological but physically based model allows the observations to be interpreted in terms of the efficiency of the various processes that control the formation and evolution of galaxies as a function of their stellar mass, gas content, environment and time.