The influence of Population III stars on the early evolution of galaxies

Numerical simulations of the chemical evolution of disk galaxies taking into account the influence of Population III stars are considered. The probability that stars with peculiar chemical compositions are present in the solar neigborhood is analyzed, and possibilities for their detection considered. For various assumptions about the slope of the initial mass function for Population III stars and the critical metallicity, the radius surrounding the Sun containing at least one such star is 10–12 pc. Such objects could be studied using modern large telescopes. The influence of Population III stars on the chemical evolution of disk galaxies is investigated. Taking into account the first stars in early stages leads to an earlier onset of chemical enrichment of the ISM and a characteristic chemical composition of the gas, but all traces of this enrichment have disappeared by the current epoch.