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Abstract In this Letter, we revisit the idea of reionization feedback on dwarf galaxy formation. We show that primordial minihaloes with vcir 20 km s−1 stop accreting gas after reionization, as it is usually assumed, but in virtue of their increasing concentration and the decreasing temperature of the intergalactic medium as redshift decreases below z= 3, they have a late phase of gas accretion and possibly star formation. We expect that pre-reionization fossils that evolved on the outskirts of the Milky Way or in isolation show a bimodal star formation history with 12- and 10-Gyr old population of stars. Leo T fits with this scenario. Another prediction of the model is the possible existence of a population of gas-rich minihaloes that never formed stars. More work is needed to understand whether a subset of compact high-velocity clouds can be identified as such objects or whether an undiscovered population of dark galaxies exists in the voids between galaxies.
Massimo Ricotti (Fri,) studied this question.