Pop III Stellar Masses and IMF

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in understanding the mass scales, formation processes, and evolution of Population III stars, highlighting differences between primordial and preionized gas star formation and discussing implications for early universe galaxy formation.

Contribution

It provides an updated synthesis of numerical and analytical models of Pop III star formation, including the first direct calculations of the Pop III.1 initial mass function and insights into binary fragmentation.

Findings

Pop III.1 stars are likely more massive than Pop III.2 stars.

Different Pop III types have distinct supernova and black hole formation pathways.

Recent simulations show evidence for binary fragmentation at high densities.

Abstract

We provide a status report on our current understanding of the mass scales for Pop III.1 and Pop III.2 stars. Since the last review (Norman 2008), substantial progress has been made both numerically and analytically on the late stages of protostellar cloud core collapse, protostar formation and accretion, and stellar evolution taking into account cloud core properties and radiative feedback effects. Based on this, there are growing indications that primordial stars forming from purely cosmological initial conditions (Pop III.1) were substantially more massive than stars forming in preionized gas (Pop III.2) where HD cooling is important. Different stellar endpoints are predicted for these two types of Pop III stars with different chemical enrichment signatures: the former die as pair instability supernovae or intermediate mass black holes, whereas the latter die as iron core-collapse supernovae, leaving behind neutron star and stellar black hole remnants. We review recent simulations which show evidence for binary fragmentation at high densities, and comment on the significance of these results. We then summarize an attempt to directly calculate the Pop III.1 IMF taking into account the latest numerical and analytical models. We conclude with suggestions for the kind of simulations needed next to continue improving our understanding of Pop III star formation, which is a necessary input to understanding high redshift galaxy formation.