%0 Generic %1 fraser2015distribution %A Fraser, M. %A Casey, A. R. %A Gilmore, G. %A Heger, A. %A Chan, C. %D 2015 %K III function mass population stars %T The Mass Distribution of Population III Stars %U http://arxiv.org/abs/1511.03428 %X Extremely metal-poor stars are uniquely informative on the nature of massive Population III stars. Modulo a few elements that vary with stellar evolution, the present-day photospheric abundances observed in extremely metal-poor stars are representative of their natal gas cloud composition. For this reason, the detailed chemistry of extremely metal-poor stars closely reflects the nucleosynthetic yields of supernovae from massive Population III stars. Here we collate detailed chemical abundances of 53 extremely metal-poor stars from the literature and infer the masses of their Population III progenitors. We fit a simple initial mass function to the ensemble of inferred Population III star masses, and find that the mass distribution is well-represented by a powerlaw IMF with an exponent of \$\alpha=2.35^+0.29_-0.24\$. The inferred maximum progenitor mass for supernovae from massive Population III stars is \$M=87^+13_-33M_ødot\$, and we find no evidence for a contribution from stars with masses above \$\sim120M_ødot\$. The minimum mass is strongly consistent with the theoretical lower mass limit for Population III Supernovae. We conclude that the IMF for massive Population III stars is consistent with the initial mass function of present-day massive stars and there may well have formed stars much below the supernova mass limit that could have survived to the present day.

@misc{fraser2015distribution, abstract = {Extremely metal-poor stars are uniquely informative on the nature of massive Population III stars. Modulo a few elements that vary with stellar evolution, the present-day photospheric abundances observed in extremely metal-poor stars are representative of their natal gas cloud composition. For this reason, the detailed chemistry of extremely metal-poor stars closely reflects the nucleosynthetic yields of supernovae from massive Population III stars. Here we collate detailed chemical abundances of 53 extremely metal-poor stars from the literature and infer the masses of their Population III progenitors. We fit a simple initial mass function to the ensemble of inferred Population III star masses, and find that the mass distribution is well-represented by a powerlaw IMF with an exponent of \$\alpha=2.35^{+0.29}_{-0.24}\$. The inferred maximum progenitor mass for supernovae from massive Population III stars is \$M=87^{+13}_{-33}M_\odot\$, and we find no evidence for a contribution from stars with masses above \$\sim120M_\odot\$. The minimum mass is strongly consistent with the theoretical lower mass limit for Population III Supernovae. We conclude that the IMF for massive Population III stars is consistent with the initial mass function of present-day massive stars and there may well have formed stars much below the supernova mass limit that could have survived to the present day.}, added-at = {2015-11-12T10:05:04.000+0100}, author = {Fraser, M. and Casey, A. R. and Gilmore, G. and Heger, A. and Chan, C.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2a6d3b0966be4f2b7d514e1c14db8fa39/miki}, description = {[1511.03428] The Mass Distribution of Population III Stars}, interhash = {0c3fa9baf10e692660c42e1980eb5988}, intrahash = {a6d3b0966be4f2b7d514e1c14db8fa39}, keywords = {III function mass population stars}, note = {cite arxiv:1511.03428Comment: Submitted to MNRAS Letters}, timestamp = {2015-11-12T10:05:04.000+0100}, title = {The Mass Distribution of Population III Stars}, url = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1511.03428}, year = 2015 }