Where might Population III supernova metals remain identifiable at redshift three?

Cosmological modelling follows the metal contribution of the first stars into the later intergalactic medium.

Discrimination of heavy elements originating from Pop III stars in z = 3 intergalactic medium

Discrimination of heavy elements originating from Pop III stars in z = 3 intergalactic medium. Kirihara, Takanobu; Hasegawa, Kenji; Umemura, Masayuki; Mori, Masao; Ishiyama, Tomoaki, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 491, 4387-4395 (2020).

arXiv:1909.07034 Publication · DOI

Approach

A Population III formation prescription is applied to N-body simulations. Pair-instability and core-collapse yields are compared with later enrichment represented by Illustris-1.

Main result

First-star metals can dominate over galactic contributions in low-density regions at redshift three, making those environments promising targets.

Scientific implications

Absorption signatures in quasar spectra could preserve information about primordial stellar populations long after the first stars disappear.

Scope and limitations

The predicted metal distribution depends on formation and yield assumptions. Detectability is a proposed observational test rather than a detection reported by this study.