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    Rise of the First Super-Massive Stars


    Regan, John and Downes, Turlough P. (2018) Rise of the First Super-Massive Stars. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 478 (4). pp. 5037-5049. ISSN 0035-8711

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    Abstract

    We use high resolution adaptive mesh refinement simulations to model the formation of massive metal-free stars in the early Universe. By applying Lyman-Werner (LW) backgrounds of 100 J21 and 1000 J21 respectively we construct environments conducive to the formation of massive stars. We find that only in the case of the higher LW backgrounds are super-critical accretion rates realised that are necessary for super-massive star (SMS) formation. Mild fragmentation is observed for both backgrounds. Violent dynamical interactions between the stars that form in the more massive halo formed (1000 J21 background) results in the eventual expulsion of the two most massive stars from the halo. In the smaller mass halo (100 J21 background) mergers of stars occur before any multibody interactions and a single massive Pop III star is left at the centre of the halo at the end of our simulation. Feedback from the very massive Pop III stars is not effective in generating a large HII region with ionising photons absorbed within a few thousand AU of the star. In all cases a massive black hole seed is the expected final fate of the most massive objects. The seed of the massive Pop III star which remained at the centre of the less massive halo experiences steady accretion rates of almost 10−2 M⊙/yr and if these rates continue could potentially experience super-Eddington accretion rates in the immediate aftermath of collapsing into a black hole.
    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: Cosmology; theory; large scale structure; first stars; methods; numerical;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Science and Engineering > Theoretical Physics
    Faculty of Science and Engineering > Research Institutes > Hamilton Institute
    Item ID: 13182
    Identification Number: 10.1093/mnras/sty1289
    Depositing User: John Regan
    Date Deposited: 07 Aug 2020 20:22
    Journal or Publication Title: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
    Publisher: Wiley Blackwell
    Refereed: Yes
    Related URLs:
    URI: https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/13182
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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