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A. Heger (LANL), S. E. Woosley (University of California at Santa Cruz)
In contrast to later generations, the first stars in the universe formed from material devoid of any metals. Current studies imply that their initial mass function (IMF) may therefore have been very different, prejudiced to massive or very massive stars of tens to hundreds of solar masses. The unique composition of the first stars also changes their evolution and their nucleosynthetic yields. These stars lose less mass and stay hotter than present-day stars, emitting more ionizing photons which contribute to the re-ionization of the early universe. They also produce a unique elemental abundance pattern in their ejecta. We present recent calculations of the first stars following their evolution from hydrogen burning through supernova explosion, including complete nucleosynthesis calculations and their yield of ionizing photons. We also show what remnants one can expect from stars as a function of their initial mass.
This work was supported by DOE (W-7405-ENG-36, DE-FC02-01ER41176), NSF (AST 02-06111), and NASA (NAG5-12036).
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #2
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