Abstract
Enough UV radiation was generated before z = 5 to have ionized the intergalactic medium. If this comes from stars (probably aggregated in systems of subgalactic scale), one straightforwardly calculates that the associated nucleosynthesis would be sufficient to produce a universal abundance of order 1 percent of solar. The first ‘pre-galaxies’ may eventually be detectable by their direct UV emission, with characteristic spectral features at Lyman alpha; high-z supernovae may also be detectable. Other probes of the IGM beyond z = 5, and of the epochs of reheating and reionization, are discussed, along with possible links between the diffusion of pregalactic metals and the origin of magnetic fields.
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Rees, M.J. Stars and Stellar Systems at z > 5: Implications for Structure Formation and Nucleosynthesis. Space Science Reviews 84, 43–53 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005082109803
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005082109803