Related papers: Probing the `Dark Age' with NGST
Magnetic fields constitute an energetic component of the interstellar medium in galaxies and hence can affect the formation of galactic structures. Sensitive resolved radio continuum observations together with statistical studies in galaxy…
Insights from JWST observations suggest that AGN feedback evolved from a short-lived, high redshift phase in which radiatively cooled turbulence and/or momentum-conserving outflows stimulated vigorous early star formation (``positive''…
Whereas the understanding of most phases of stellar evolution made considerable progress throughout the whole of the twentieth century, stellar formation remained rather enigmatic and poorly constrained by observations until about three…
Metal-poor globular clusters (GCs) are both numerous and ancient, which indicates that they may be important contributors to ionizing radiation in the reionization era. Starting from the observed number density and stellar mass function of…
The nucleosynthesis in the first massive stars may be constrained by observing the surface composition of long-lived very iron-poor stars born around 10 billion years ago from material enriched by their ejecta. Many interesting clues on…
Observations of star-forming galaxies in the distant Universe (z > 2) are starting to confirm the importance of massive stars in shaping galaxy emission and evolution. Inevitably, these distant stellar populations are unresolved, and the…
Probing the growth of structure from the epoch of hydrogen recombination to the formation of the first stars and galaxies is one of the most important uncharted areas of observational cosmology. Far-IR spectroscopy covering $\lambda$…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the ultimate cosmic lighthouses, capable of illuminating the universe at its earliest epochs. Could such events probe the properties of the first stars at z $\sim$ 20, the end of the cosmic Dark Ages? Previous…
The global star formation rate in high redshift galaxies, based on optical surveys, shows a strong peak at a redshift of z=1.5, which implies that we have already seen most of the formation. High redshift galaxies may, however, emit most of…
Far-infrared and submillimeter wavelength surveys have now established the important role of dusty, star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) in the assembly of stellar mass and the evolution of massive galaxies in the Universe. The brightest of these…
The large-scale structure of the Universe formed from initially small perturbations in the cosmic density field, leading to galaxy clusters with up to 10^15 Msun at the present day. Here, we review the formation of structures in the…
If the Universe is dominated by cold dark matter and dark energy as in the currently popular LCDM cosmology, it is expected that large scale structures form gradually, with galaxy clusters of mass M > ~10^14 Msun appearing at around 6 Gyrs…
We review the current status of knowledge concerning the early phases of star formation during cosmic dawn. This includes the first generations of stars forming in the lowest mass dark matter halos in which cooling and condensation of gas…
The first stars in the Universe form when chemically pristine gas heats as it falls into dark matter potential wells, cools radiatively due to the formation of molecular hydrogen, and becomes self-gravitating. We demonstrate with…
We review recent theoretical results on the formation of the first stars in the universe, and emphasize related open questions. In particular, we discuss the initial conditions for Population III star formation, as given by variants of the…
The determination of the densities of intergalactic photons from the FIR to the UV produced by stellar emission and dust reradiation at various redshifts can provide an independent measure of the star formation history of the universe. High…
The first stars to form in the Universe may be powered by the annihilation of weakly interacting dark matter particles. These so-called dark stars, if observed, may give us a clue about the nature of dark matter. Here we examine which…
We have proposed that the first phase of stellar evolution in the history of the Universe may be Dark Stars (DS), powered by dark matter heating rather than by nuclear fusion. Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, which may be their own…
Although the universe at redshifts greater than six represents only the first one billion years (<10%) of cosmic time, the dense nature of the early universe led to vigorous galaxy formation and evolution activity which we are only now…
The largest galaxies acquire their mass early on, when the Universe is still youthful. Cold streams violently feed these young galaxies a vast amount of fresh gas, resulting in very efficient star formation. Using a well resolved…