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The Role of H2 Molecules in Cosmological Structure Formation

Tom Abel·Zoltan Haiman
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Abstract

We review the relevance of H2 molecules for structure formation in cosmology. Molecules are important at high redshifts, when the first collapsed structures appear with typical temperatures of a few hundred Kelvin. In these chemically pristine clouds, radiative cooling is dominated H2 molecules. As a result, H2 ``astro-chemistry'' is likely to determine the epoch when the first astrophysical objects appear. We summarize results of recent three-dimensional simulations. A discussion of the effects of feedback, and implications for the reionization of the universe is also given.

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Tom Abel, Zoltan Haiman. 2000-02-08. The Role of H2 Molecules in Cosmological Structure Formation. https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0002031

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