Journal article
THE CLUSTERING PROPERTIES OF THE FIRST GALAXIES
Massimo Stiavelli, Michele Trenti
The Astrophysical Journal Letters | IOP PUBLISHING LTD | Published : 2010
Abstract
We study the clustering properties of the first galaxies formed in the universe. We find that, due to chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium by isolated Population III stars formed in mini-halos at redshift z ≳ 30, the (chronologically) first galaxies are composed of metal-poor Population II stars and are highly clustered on small scales. In contrast, chemically pristine galaxies in halos with mass M 10 M may form at z < 20 in relatively underdense regions of the universe. This occurs once self-enrichment by Population III in mini-halos is quenched by the buildup of an H photodissociating radiative background in the Lyman-Werner bands. We find that these chemically pristine galaxie..
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Awarded by NASA JWST IDS
Awarded by NASA
Awarded by NSF
Funding Acknowledgements
We thank the anonymous referee for comments that have helped improve this Letter. M. S. acknowledges partial support from NASA JWST IDS grant NAG5-12458. M. T. acknowledges partial support from the University of Colorado Astrophysical Theory Program through grants from NASA (NNX07AG77G) and NSF (AST07-07474).