First stars evolution and nucleosynthesis

The first stars in the universe were massive and luminous with typical masses M ≥ 100M. Metal-free stars have unique physical characteristics and exhibit high effective temperatures and small radii. These so called Population III stars were responsible for the initial enrichment of the intergalactic medium with heavy elements. In this work, we study the structure, evolution and nucleosynthesis of 100, 200, 250 and 300M galactic and pregalactic Population III mass losing stars with metallicities Z 10-6 and Z = 10-9, during the hydrogen and helium burning phases. Using a stellar evolution code, a system of 10 structure and evolution equations together with boundary conditions, and a set of 30 nuclear reactions, are solved simultaneously, obtaining the star's structure, evolution, isotopic abundances and their ratios. Motivated by recent stability analysis, almost all very massive star (VMS) calculations during the past few years have been performed with no mass loss. However, it has recently been claimed that VMS should have strong mass loss. We present in this work new VMS calculations that includes mass loss. The main difference between zero-metal and metal-enriched stars lies in the nuclear energy generation mechanism. For the first stars, nuclear burning proceeds in a non-standard way. Since Population III stars can reach high central temperatures, this leads to the first synthesis of primary carbon through the 3 α reaction activating the CNO-cycles. Zero-metal stars produce light elements, such as He, C, N and O. Thus, very massive pregalactic Population III stars experienced self-production of C, either at the zero-age main sequence or in later phases of central hydrogen burning. In advanced evolutionary phases, these stars contribute to the chemical enrichment of the intergalactic medium through supernova explosions. (Author)