Photodissociative Regulation of Star Formation in Metal-Free Pregalactic Clouds

Abstract

We study the H2 photodissociation regions around OB stars in primordial gas clouds whose virial temperatures are between a few hundred and a few thousand Kelvin. In such small objects, a single O star can photodissociate a mass equal to that of the cloud itself. As a result, the clouds deplete their molecular coolant and cannot cool in a free-fall time, and subsequent star formation is totally quenched. This indicates that stars do not form efficiently in small objects and that these objects contribute little to the reionization of the universe.