Related papers: First Light
We demonstrate how the least luminous galaxies in the Universe, ultra-faint dwarf galaxies, are sensitive to their dynamical mass at the time of cosmic reionization. We select a low-mass ($\sim \text{1.5} \times 10^{9} \, \text{M}_{\odot}$)…
We simulate the formation of a metal-poor (10^-2 Zsun) stellar cluster in one of the first galaxies to form in the early Universe, specifically a high-redshift atomic cooling halo (z~14). This is the first calculation that resolves the…
According to the current paradigm of galaxy formation, the first galaxies have been likely formed within large dark matter haloes. The fragmentation of these massive haloes led to the formation of galaxy protoclusters, which are usually…
Recent evidence on the metal content of the high-redshift Lyman alpha forest seen in quasar spectra suggests that an early generation of galaxies enriched the intergalactic medium (IGM) at z ~ 5. We calculate the number of supernovae that…
The first sources of ionizing radiation to condense out of the dark and neutral IGM sent ionization fronts sweeping outward through their surroundings, overtaking other condensed objects and photoevaporating them. This feedback of universal…
Reionization represents an important phase in the history of our Universe when ultraviolet radiation from the first luminous sources, primarily stars and accreting black holes, ionized the neutral hydrogen atoms in the intergalactic medium…
We provide a review of our current knowledge of galaxies throughout the first billion years of cosmic history. This field has undergone a transformation in the last two years following the launch of $\textit{JWST}$, and we aim to deliver an…
The first stars ended the cosmic Dark Ages and created the first heavy elements necessary for the formation of planets and life. The properties of these stars remain uncertain, and it may be decades before individual Pop III stars are…
Rest-frame optical observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have uncovered a population of massive galaxies, exceeding $10^{10}$ solar masses, present less than a billion years after the Big Bang. The large stellar masses of…
The deepest space and ground-based observations find metal-enriched galaxies at cosmic times when the Universe was <1 Gyr old. These stellar populations had to be preceded by the metal-free first stars, Population III. Recent cosmic…
In two previous papers, we presented simulations of the first galaxies in a representative volume of the Universe. The simulations are unique because we model feedback-regulated galaxy formation, using time-dependent,…
Galaxies had their most significant impact on the Universe when they assembled their first generations of stars. Energetic photons emitted by young, massive stars in primeval galaxies ionized the intergalactic medium surrounding their host…
Until now, investigating the early stages of galaxy formation has been primarily the realm of theoretical modeling and computer simulations, which require many physical ingredients and are challenging to test observationally. However, the…
At redshifts between 5 and 20, stars and `subgalaxies' created the first heavy elements; these same systems (together perhaps with `miniquasars') generated the UV radiation that ionized the IGM, and maybe also the first magnetic fields. The…
We present the results of cosmological hydrodynamic simulations with zoom-in initial conditions, and investigate the formation of the first galaxies and their evolution towards observable galaxies at $z \sim 6$. We focus on three different…
The first generation of stars, often called Population III (or Pop III), form from metal-free primordial gas at redshifts 30 and below. They dominate the cosmic star formation history until redshifts 15 to 20, at which point the formation…
The chemical elements are created in nuclear fusion processes in the hot and dense cores of stars. The energy generated through nucleosynthesis allows stars to shine for billions of years. When these stars explode as massive supernovae, the…
The history of the transition from a neutral intergalactic medium (IGM) to one that is almost fully ionized can reveal the character of cosmological ionizing sources and set important constraints on the stellar birthrate at high redshifts.…
Over the past two decades, an avalanche of data from multiwavelength imaging and spectroscopic surveys has revolutionized our view of galaxy formation and evolution. Here we review the range of complementary techniques and theoretical tools…
The WMAP satellite has measured a large optical depth to electron scattering after cosmological recombination of 0.17+-0.04, implying significant reionization of the primordial gas only ~200 million years after the big bang. However, the…