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Publications (2)0 Total impact

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    Article: The Formation of Supermassive Black Holes from Low-Mass Pop III Seeds
    Daniel J. Whalen, Chris L. Fryer
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    ABSTRACT: The existence of 10$^9$ M$_{\odot}$ black holes (BH) in massive galaxies by $z \ sim$ 7 is one of the great unsolved mysteries in cosmological structure formation. One theory argues that they originate from the black holes of Pop III stars at $z \sim$ 20 and then accrete at the Eddington limit down to the epoch of reionization, which requires that they have constant access to rich supplies of fuel. Because early numerical simulations suggested that Pop III stars were $\gtrsim$ 100 M$_{\odot}$, the supermassive black hole seeds considered up to now were 100 - 300 M$_{\odot}$. However, there is a growing numerical and observational consensus that some Pop III stars were tens of solar masses, not hundreds, and that 20 - 40 M$_{\odot}$ black holes may have been much more plentiful at high redshift. However, we find that natal kicks imparted to 20 - 40 M$_{\odot}$ Pop III BHs during formation eject them from their halos and hence their fuel supply, precluding them from Eddington-limit growth. Consequently, supermassive black holes are far less likely to form from low-mass Pop III stars than from very massive ones.
    12/2011;
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    Article: Modeling Emission from the First Explosions: Pitfalls and Problems
    Chris L. Fryer, Daniel J. Whalen, Lucille Frey
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    ABSTRACT: Observations of the explosions of Population III (Pop III) stars have the potential to teach us much about the formation and evolution of these zero-metallicity objects. To realize this potential, we must tie observed emission to an explosion model, which requires accurate light curve and spectra calculations. Here, we discuss many of the pitfalls and problems involved in such models, presenting some preliminary results from radiation-hydrodynamics simulations. Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, proceedings of 'The First Stars and Galaxies: Challenges for the Next Decade", Austin, TX, March 8-11, 2010
    09/2010;