Dark Matter Halo Environment for Primordial Star Formation

We study the statistical properties (such as shape and spin) of high-z halos likely hosting the first (PopIII) stars with cosmological simulations including detailed gas physics. In the redshift range considered ($11 < z < 16$) the average sphericity is $= 0.3 \pm 0.1$, and for more than 90% of halos the triaxiality parameter is $T \lesssim 0.4$, showing a clear preference for oblateness over prolateness. Larger halos in the simulation tend to be both more spherical and prolate: we find $s \propto M_h^{\alpha_s}$ and $T \propto M_h^{\alpha_T}$, with $\alpha_s \approx 0.128$ and $\alpha_T= 0.276$ at z = 11. The spin distributions of dark matter and gas are considerably different at $z=16$, with the baryons rotating slower than the dark matter. At lower redshift, instead, the spin distributions of dark matter and gas track each other almost perfectly, as a consequence of a longer time interval available for momentum redistribution between the two components. The spin of both the gas and dark matter follows a lognormal distribution, with a mean value at z=16 of $=0.0184$, virtually independent of halo mass. This is in good agreement with previous studies. Using the results of two feedback models (MT1 and MT2) by McKee & Tan (2008) and mapping our halo spin distribution into a PopIII IMF, we find that at high-$z$ the IMF closely tracks the spin lognormal distribution. Depending on the feedback model, though, the distribution can be centered at $\approx 65 M_\odot$ (MT1) or $\approx 140 M_\odot$ (MT2). At later times, model MT1 evolves into a bimodal distribution with a second prominent peak located at $35-40 M_\odot$ as a result of the non-linear relation between rotation and halo mass. We conclude that the dark matter halo properties might be a key factor shaping the IMF of the first stars.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Contradiction between strong lensing statistics and a feedback solution to the cusp/core problem

Standard cosmology has many successes on large scales, but faces some fundamental difficulties on small, galactic scales. One such difficulty is the cusp/core problem. High resolution observations of the rotation curves for dark matter dominated low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies imply that galactic dark matter halos have a density profile with a flat central core, whereas N-body structure formation simulations predict a divergent (cuspy) density profile at the center. It has been proposed that this problem can be resolved by stellar feedback driving turbulent gas motion that erases the initial cusp. However, strong gravitational lensing prefers a cuspy density profile for galactic halos. In this paper, we use the most recent high resolution observations of the rotation curves of LSB galaxies to fit the core size as a function of halo mass, and compare the resultant lensing probability to the observational results for the well defined combined sample of the Cosmic Lens All-Sky Survey (CLASS) and Jodrell Bank/Very Large Array Astrometric Survey (JVAS). The lensing probabilities based on such density profiles are too low to match the observed lensing in CLASS/JVAS. High baryon densities in the galaxies that dominate the lensing statistics can reconcile this discrepancy, but only if they steepen the mass profile rather than making it more shallow. This places contradictory demands upon the effects of baryons on the central mass profiles of galaxies.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures. Largely improved compared with the version 1 to reflect the referees' reports, conclusions unchanged. Published in Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics (RAA

Population III stars and the Long Gamma Ray Burst rate

Because massive, low-metallicity population III (PopIII) stars may produce very powerful long gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs), high-redshift GRB observations could probe the properties of the first stars. We analyze the correlation between early PopIII stars and LGRBs by using cosmological N-body/hydrodynamical simulations, which include detailed chemical evolution, cooling, star formation, feedback effects and the transition between PopIII and more standard population I/II (PopII/I) stars. From the Swift observed rate of LGRBs, we estimate the fraction of black holes that will produce a GRB from PopII/I stars to be in the range 0.028<f_{GRB}<0.140, depending on the assumed upper metallicity of the progenitor. Assuming that as of today no GRB event has been associated to a PopIII star, we estimate the upper limit for the fraction of LGRBs produced by PopIII stars to be in the range 0.006<f_{GRB}<0.022. When we apply a detection threshold compatible with the BAT instrument, we find that the expected fraction of PopIII GRBs (GRB3) is ~10% of the full LGRB population at z>6, becoming as high has 40% at z>10. Finally, we study the properties of the galaxies hosting our sample of GRB3. We find that the average metallicity of the galaxies hosting a GRB3 is typically higher than the critical metallicity used to select the PopIII stars, due to the efficiency in polluting the gas above such low values. We also find that the highest probability of finding a GRB3 is within galaxies with a stellar mass <10^7 Msun, independently from the redshift.Comment: 8 pages,3 figures. Submitted to MNRAS, revised version after referee's comment

Effect of metallicity on the gravitational-wave signal from the cosmological population of compact binary coalescences

Recent studies on stellar evolution have shown that the properties of compact objects strongly depend on the metallicity of the environment in which they were formed. Using some very simple assumptions on the metallicity of the stellar populations, we explore how this property affects the unresolved gravitational-wave background from extragalactic compact binaries. We obtained a suit of models using population synthesis code, estimated the gravitational-wave background they produce, and discuss its detectability with second- (advanced LIGO, advanced Virgo) and third- (Einstein Telescope) generation detectors. Our results show that the background is dominated by binary black holes for all considered models in the frequency range of terrestrial detectors, and that it could be detected in most cases by advanced LIGO/Virgo, and with Einstein Telescope with a very high signal-to-noise ratio. The observed peak in a gravitational wave spectrum depends on the metallicity of the stellar population.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, accepted to A&

Feedback from the IR Background in the Early Universe

It is commonly believed that the earliest stages of star-formation in the Universe were self-regulated by global radiation backgrounds - either by the ultraviolet Lyman-Werner (LW) photons emitted by the first stars (directly photodissociating H_2), or by the X-rays produced by accretion onto the black hole (BH) remnants of these stars (heating the gas but catalyzing H_2 formation). Recent studies have suggested that a significant fraction of the first stars may have had low masses (a few M_sun). Such stars do not leave BH remnants and they have softer spectra, with copious infrared (IR) radiation at photon energies around 1eV. Similar to LW and X-ray photons, these photons have a mean-free path comparable to the Hubble distance, building up an early IR background. Here we show that if soft-spectrum stars, with masses of a few M_sun, contributed more than 1% of the UV background (or their mass fraction exceeded 90%), then their IR radiation dominated radiative feedback in the early Universe. The feedback is different from the UV feedback from high-mass stars, and occurs through the photo-detachment of H^- ions, necessary for efficient H_2 formation. Nevertheless, we find that the baryon fraction which must be incorporated into low-mass stars in order to suppress H_2-cooling is only a factor of few higher than for high-mass stars.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS (Letters). 5 pages with 2 figure