Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
1999-10-13
Astrophys.J. 527 (1999) L5-8
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
7 pages, 3 figures, uses emulateapj.sty. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters
Scientific paper
10.1086/312385
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 investigate the evolution of an isolated 3-sigma peak of mass 2x10^6 M_solar which collapses at z_coll=30 using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics. We find that the gas dissipatively settles into a rotationally supported disk which has a very filamentary morphology. The gas in these filaments is Jeans unstable with M_J~10^3 M_solar. Fragmentation leads to the formation of high density (n>10^8 cm^-3) clumps which subsequently grow in mass by accreting surrounding gas and by merging with other clumps up to masses of ~10^4 M_solar. This suggests that the very first stars were rather massive. We explore the complex dynamics of the merging and tidal disruption of these clumps by following their evolution over a few dynamical times.
Bromm Volker
Coppi Paolo S.
Larson Richard B.
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