Year: 1997
Type: article
Abstract: We investigate the ability of primordial gas clouds to retain molecular hydrogen (H 2 ) during the initial phase of the reionization epoch. We find that before the Strömgren spheres of the individual ionizing sources overlap, the UV background below the ionization threshold is able to penetrate large clouds and suppress their H 2 abundance. The consequent lack of H 2 cooling could prevent the collapse and fragmentation of clouds with virial temperatures T vir ≲ 10 4 K (or masses ≲10 8 M ☉ [(1 + z vir )/10] -3/2 ). This negative feedback on structure formation arises from the very first ionizing sources and precedes the feedback due to the photoionization heating.
Source: The Astrophysical Journal
DOI: 10.1086/303647
Authors: Zoltan Haiman, Martin J. Rees, Abraham Loeb
Institutions: Harvard University, University of Cambridge
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2045388241