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The first starsPrimordial clouds are likely to be remarkably uniform over stellar mass-scales in the absence of a pre-existing generation of stars. Thermal instability is found to occur during the collapse of a primordial cloud when the H2 abundance is rising and the H2 optical depth is of order unity. The e-folding rate for fluctuation growth exceeds the free-fall collapse rate by an order of magnitude. Large density fluctuations of mass-scale 0.1 solar mass arise in any collapsing cloud with metallicity not greater than 0.001 of the solar value. Gravitational instability ensures that many of the clumps coagulate to form protostars of masses extending up to the initial Jeans mass when the fluctuations develop, namely 100 solar masses. The primordial IMF should therefore have spanned the mass range from 0.1 to 100 solar masses, but may have been dominated by the more massive stars.
Document ID
19840030162
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Silk, J.
(CNRS, Institut d'Astrophysique, Paris, France; California, University Berkeley, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
November 1, 1983
Publication Information
Publication: Royal Astronomical Society, Monthly Notices
Volume: 205
ISSN: 0035-8711
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
84A12949
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NGR-05-003-578
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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