2010/05/27 by William J. Gray, William J Gray, Evan Scannapieco
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Dark matter #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Galaxy formation and evolution #Globular cluster #Halo #Physics #Population #Redshift #Star formation #Stars #Virial theorem #astro-ph.CO #astro-ph.GA
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/718/1/417
17 pages, 14 figures, ApJ in press
arxiv created 2010/05/27 · openalex publication_date 2010/06/30 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · arxiv updated 2021/11/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
We use high-resolution three-dimensional adaptive mesh refinement simulations to investigate the interaction of high-redshift galaxy outflows with low-mass virialized clouds of primordial composition. While atomic cooling allows star formation in objects with virial temperatures above 10 4 K, "minihalos" below this threshold are generally unable to form stars by themselves. However, these objects are highly susceptible to triggered star formation, induced by outflows from neighboring high-redshift starburst galaxies. Here, we conduct a study of these interactions, focusing on cooling through non-equilibrium molecular hydrogen (H 2 ) and hydrogen deuteride (HD) formation. Tracking the non-equilibrium chemistry and cooling of 14 species and including the presence of a dissociating background, we show that shock interactions can transform minihalos into extremely compact clusters of coeval stars. Furthermore, these clusters are all less than ≈10 6 M ☉ , and they are ejected from their parent dark matter halos: properties that are remarkably similar to those of the old population of globular clusters.