Local and Global Radiative Feedback from Population III Star Formation

TL;DR

This paper reviews how radiative feedback, including Lyman-Werner background and ionizing radiation, influences the formation of Population III stars, affecting their timing, suppression, or enhancement.

Contribution

It provides an overview of recent research on radiative feedback mechanisms impacting Population III star formation, highlighting their complex effects.

Findings

Lyman-Werner background delays star formation but does not prevent it.

Radiation from nearby stars can suppress, have no effect, or enhance primordial star formation.

Understanding feedback effects is vital for modeling early galaxy formation.

Abstract

We present an overview of recent work that focuses on understanding the radiative feedback processes that are potentially important during Population III star formation. Specifically, we examine the effect of the Lyman-Werner (photodissociating) background on the early stages of primordial star formation, which serves to delay the onset of star formation in a given halo but never suppresses it entirely. We also examine the effect that both photodissociating and ionizing radiation in I-fronts from nearby stellar systems have on the formation of primordial protostellar clouds. Depending on the strength of the incoming radiation field and the central density of the halos, Pop III star formation can be suppressed, unaffected, or even enhanced. Understanding these and other effects is crucial to modeling Population III star formation and to building the earliest generations of galaxies in the Universe.