Cosmological Effects of the First Stars: Evolving Spectra of Population III

Abstract

The first stars hold intrinsic interest for their uniqueness and for their potential importance to galaxy formation, chemical enrichment, and feedback on the intergalactic medium (IGM). The metal-free composition of the first stars restricts the stellar energy source to proton-proton burning rather than the more efficient CNO cycle. Consequently they are hotter, smaller, and have harder spectra than their present-day counterparts of finite metallicity. We present new results from a continuing study of metal-free stars from a cosmological point of view. We have calculated evolving spectra of Pop III clusters, derived from a grid of zero-metallicity stellar evolutionary tracks. We find that H-ionizing photon production from metal-free stellar clusters takes twice as long as that of Pop II to decline to 1/10 its peak value. In addition, metal-free stars produce substantially more photons than Pop II in the HeII ($E > 4$ Ryd) continuum. We suggest that large Ly$\alpha$ equivalent widths ($W_{\rm Ly\alpha} > 400$ Angstroms) may provide a means of detecting metal-free stellar populations at high redshift, and that HeII recombination lines ($\lambda$1640, $\lambda$4686) may confirm identifications of Population III. While Pop III clusters are intrinsically bluer than their Pop II counterparts, nebular continuum emission makes up this difference and may confuse attempts to discern Pop III stars with broadband colors. In a companion paper, we explore the consequences of evolving spectra of Pop III for the reionization of the IGM in both H and He. (ABRIDGED)