Related papers: First Light and Reionization: A Conference Summary
The origin of the galaxies represents an important focus of current cosmological research, both observational and theoretical. Its resolution involves a comprehensive understanding of star formation, galaxy dynamics, the cosmology of the…
When, and how, did the first galaxies and supermassive black holes (SMBH) form, and how did they reionization the Universe? First galaxy formation and cosmic reionization are among the last frontiers in studies of cosmic structure…
Astronomy provides a laboratory for extreme physics, a window into environments at extremes of distance, temperature and density that often can't be reproduced in Earth laboratories, or at least not right away. A surprising amount of the…
The focus of this Chapter is on describing the prospective sources of the gravitational wave universe accessible to present and future observations, from kHz, to mHz down to nano-Hz frequencies. The multi-frequency gravitational wave…
The alignments of galaxies across the large-scale structure of the Universe are known to be a source of contamination for gravitational lensing, but they can also probe cosmology and the physics of galaxy evolution in many ways. In this…
Modern cosmology poses deep and unavoidable questions for fundamental physics. In this plenary talk, delivered in slightly different forms at the {\it Particles and Nuclei International Conference} (PANIC05) in Santa Fe, in October 2005,…
The past few years have seen dramatic breakthroughs and spectacular and puzzling discoveries in astrophysics and cosmology. In many cases, the new observations can only be explained with the introduction of new fundamental physics. Here we…
The search for the origin of cosmic rays is as active as ever, mainly driven by new insights provided by recent pieces of observation. Much effort is being channelled in putting the so called supernova paradigm for the origin of galactic…
The first stars are believed to have formed a few hundred million years after the big bang in so-called dark matter minihalos with masses ~10^6 M_sun. Their radiation lit up the Universe for the first time, and the supernova explosions that…
In these lectures I focus on early universe models which can explain the currently observed structure on large scales. I begin with a survey of inflationary cosmology, the current paradigm for understanding the origin of the universe as we…
I give a brief overview of cosmic ray physics, highlighting some key questions and how they will be addressed by new experiments.
The next generation of instruments designed to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) will provide a historic opportunity to open the gravitational wave window to the primordial Universe. Through high sensitivity…
The hot dense environment of the early universe is known to have produced large numbers of baryons, photons, and neutrinos. These extreme conditions may have also produced other long-lived species, including new light particles (such as…
A new generation of observatories is looking for gravitational waves. These waves, emitted by highly relativistic systems, will open a new window for ob- servation of the cosmos when they are detected. Among the most promising sources of…
Studies of the distant Universe are providing key insights into our understanding of the formation of galaxies. The advent of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has significantly enhanced our observational capabilities, leading to an…
The cosmic dark ages and the epoch of reionization, during which the first generations of stars and galaxies formed, are among the most compelling frontiers of extragalactic astrophysics and cosmology. Here we describe an exciting new probe…
Recent X-ray observations have had a major impact on topics ranging from protostars to cosmology. They have also drawn attention to important and general physical processes that currently limit our understanding of thermal and nonthermal…
The nascent field of gravitational-wave astronomy offers many opportunities for effective and inspirational astronomy outreach. Gravitational waves, the "ripples in space-time" predicted by Einstein's theory of General Relativity, are…
Whether we live in a spatially finite universe, and what its shape and size may be, are among the fundamental long-standing questions in cosmology. These questions of topological nature have become particularly topical, given the wealth of…
(Abridged) In these lectures aimed for non-specialists, I review progress in understanding how galaxies form and evolve. Both the star formation history and assembly of stellar mass can be empirically traced from redshifts z~6 to the…