1000-10,000 M$_\odot$ Primordial Stars Created the Nitrogen Excess in GS 3073 at $z = 5.55$

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Nandal, Devesh, Whalen, Daniel J., Latif, Muhammad A., Heger, Alexander
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866915594085859328
author Nandal, Devesh
Whalen, Daniel J.
Latif, Muhammad A.
Heger, Alexander
author_facet Nandal, Devesh
Whalen, Daniel J.
Latif, Muhammad A.
Heger, Alexander
contents The advent of the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed a wealth of new galaxies just a few hundred Myr after the Big Bang. Some of these galaxies exhibit unusual N/O ratios that are difficult to explain with stellar populations today. While Wolf-Rayet stars in multiple-burst populations, very massive or rapidly-rotating primordial stars, general relativistic explosions of metal-enriched supermassive stars, or the precursors of globular clusters can in principle account for the nitrogen excess in the galaxies GN-z11 and CEERS 1019, no known stars or supernovae can explain the far higher N/O ratio of 0.46 in GS 3073 at redshift $z =$ 5.55. Here we show that the extreme nitrogen abundances in GS 3073 can be produced by 1000 - 10,000 M$_{\odot}$ primordial (Pop III) stars. We find that these are the only candidates that can account for its large N/O ratios and its C/O and Ne/O ratios. GS 3073 is thus the first conclusive evidence in the fossil abundance record of the existence of supermassive Pop III stars at cosmic Dawn.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_04435
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle 1000-10,000 M$_\odot$ Primordial Stars Created the Nitrogen Excess in GS 3073 at $z = 5.55$
Nandal, Devesh
Whalen, Daniel J.
Latif, Muhammad A.
Heger, Alexander
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
The advent of the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed a wealth of new galaxies just a few hundred Myr after the Big Bang. Some of these galaxies exhibit unusual N/O ratios that are difficult to explain with stellar populations today. While Wolf-Rayet stars in multiple-burst populations, very massive or rapidly-rotating primordial stars, general relativistic explosions of metal-enriched supermassive stars, or the precursors of globular clusters can in principle account for the nitrogen excess in the galaxies GN-z11 and CEERS 1019, no known stars or supernovae can explain the far higher N/O ratio of 0.46 in GS 3073 at redshift $z =$ 5.55. Here we show that the extreme nitrogen abundances in GS 3073 can be produced by 1000 - 10,000 M$_{\odot}$ primordial (Pop III) stars. We find that these are the only candidates that can account for its large N/O ratios and its C/O and Ne/O ratios. GS 3073 is thus the first conclusive evidence in the fossil abundance record of the existence of supermassive Pop III stars at cosmic Dawn.
title 1000-10,000 M$_\odot$ Primordial Stars Created the Nitrogen Excess in GS 3073 at $z = 5.55$
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.04435