2007/03/28 by S. C. O. Glover
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11787.x
published as Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc.379:1352-1358,2007 · 8 pages, 2 figures. Accepted by MNRAS
arxiv created 2007/03/28 · openalex publication_date 2007/07/27 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
H2 formation in metal-free gas occurs via the intermediate H− or H+2 ions. Destruction of these ions by photodissociation therefore serves to suppress H2 formation. In this paper, I highlight the fact that several processes that occur in ionized primordial gas produce photons energetic enough to photodissociate H− or H+2 and outline how to compute the photodissociation rates produced by a particular distribution of ionized gas. I also show that there are circumstances of interest, such as during the growth of H ii regions around the first stars, in which this previously overlooked form of radiative feedback is of considerable importance.