Formation of massive stars under protostellar radiation feedback: very metal-poor stars

Abstract

ABSTRACT We study the formation of very metal-poor stars under protostellar radiative feedback effect. We use cosmological simulations to identify low-mass dark matter haloes and star-forming gas clouds within them. We then follow protostar formation and the subsequent long-term mass accretion phase of over one million years using two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamics simulations. We show that the critical physical process that sets the final mass is the formation and expansion of a bipolar H ii region. The process is similar to the formation of massive primordial stars, but radiation pressure exerted on dust grains also contributes to halting the accretion flow in the low-metallicity case. We find that the net feedback effect in the case with metallicity Z = 10−2 Z⊙ is stronger than in the case with Z ∼ 1 Z⊙. With decreasing metallicity, the radiation-pressure effect becomes weaker, but photoionization heating of the circumstellar gas is more efficient owing to the reduced dust attenuation. In the case with Z = 10−2 Z⊙, the central star grows as massive as 200 solar masses, similarly to the case of primordial star formation. We conclude that metal-poor stars with a few hundred solar masses can be formed by gas accretion despite the strong radiative feedback.