We present a study of the co-evolution of a population of primordial
star-forming minihalos at Cosmic Dawn. In this study, we highlight the
influence of individual Population III stars on the ability of nearby minihalos
to form sufficient molecular hydrogen to undergo star formation of their own.
In the absence of radiation, we find the minimum halo mass required to bring
about collapse and star formation to be 10^5 Msun, which then increases to 10^6
Msun after two stars have formed. We find an inverse relationship between the
mass of a halo and the time required for it to recover its molecular gas after
being disrupted by radiation from a nearby star. We also take advantage of the
extremely high resolution to investigate the effects of major and minor mergers
on the gas content of star-forming minihalos. Contrary to previous claims of
fallback of supernova ejecta, we find that minihalos evacuated after hosting
Pop III stars primarily recover gas through mergers with undisturbed halos. We
identify an intriguing type of major merger between recently evacuated halos
and gas-rich ones, finding that these "dry" mergers accelerate star formation
instead of suppressing it like their low redshift counterparts. We attribute
this to the gas-poor nature of one of the merging halos resulting in no
significant rise in temperature or turbulence and instead inducing a rapid
increase in central density and hydrostatic pressure. This constitutes a novel
formation pathway for Pop III stars and establishes major mergers as
potentially the primary source of gas, thus redefining the role of major
mergers at this epoch.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, submitted to MNRA