Fragmentation in a Primordial Accretion Flow

Abstract

Under rapid cooling from molecular hydrogen, the accretion disks around Population III (PopIII) stars are believed to fragment, resulting in multiple accreting cores. In this paper, we build a theoretical framework for calculating the optical depth of H$_2$ ro-vibrational line cooling based on the vertical structure in these accretion disks. Applying this physically motivated prescription for the optical depth, we find that cooling in the inner disk with $r \lesssim 10 {\rm\ AU}$ is attenuated significantly as a result of high surface density; $PdV$ heating becomes more efficient than cooling, which prevents fragmentation in the inner disk. Despite this, cooling becomes dynamically important in the outer disk, favoring fragmentation. We argue that most of the resultant fragments are initially at the outer disk, and that any surviving fragment has to migrate slower than the disk-scale photo-evaporation process. Since type I migration is fast, migration slows down as a result of gap-opening in the disk structure. Two possible processes for gap-opening are studied: (1) through a massive, densely-cored ($\rho \gtrsim 10^{-8} {\rm\ g\ cm^{-3}}$) clump able to radiate away the excess gravitational potential energy, and (2) through a fast-growing central star, with $\dot{M} \gtrsim 2 \times 10^{-3} \, M_\odot {\rm\ yr^{-1}}$, whose gravity dominates the star-disk system and favors gap opening.