Related papers: The First Stars: Final Remarks
These notes collect together current work on the effect of the environment on galaxy formation and evolution. They are broken into four distinct parts. The first deals with the observational debate surrounding the question of whether…
The evolution of irregular galaxies is examined from two points of view: on the one hand, models of galactic chemical evolution have been computed and their predictions compared with the corresponding observational data on the element…
The formation of stars, particularly the high-mass star formation, poses several still open questions. Nowadays, thanks to the most modern telescopes and instruments, we are able to observe and analyse many physical and chemical processes…
The first dwarf galaxies, which constitute the building blocks of the collapsed objects we find today in the Universe, had formed hundreds of millions of years after the big bang. This pedagogical review describes the early growth of their…
I review the status of massive star formation theories: accretion from collapsing, massive, turbulent cores; competitive accretion; and stellar collisions. I conclude the observational and theoretical evidence favors the first of these…
We outline a method to infer the global history of star formation in galaxies with input only from absorption-line observations of quasars. The application of the method to existing data leads to the conclusion that most stars formed at…
One well-tested method in science is to separate the object of interest from its surroundings and look at it in isolation. The advantage is that unimportant information is removed and the true properties of the object are seen more clearly.…
The star formation history derived from ultraviolet and H$\alpha$ data, without correction for dust extinction, on the one hand, and from far infrared and submillimetre data, on the other, is investigated. The latter estimates are found to…
We argue that the first stars may have spanned the conventional mass range rather than be identified with the Very Massive Objects (100-1000 solar masses) favoured by numerical simulations. Specifically, we find that magnetic field…
(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…
The major questions relevant to star and planet formation are: What controls the rate, efficiency, spatial clustering, multiplicity, and initial mass function of star formation, now and in the past? What are the major feedback mechanisms…
We consider some aspects of the evolution of massive stars which can only be elucidated by means of "indirect" observations, i.e. measurements of the effects of massive stars on their environments. We discuss in detail the early evolution…
A mechanism of creation of stellar-like objects in the very early universe, from the QCD phase transition till BBN and somewhat later, is studied. It is argued that in the considered process primordial black holes with masses above a few…
Observations of intensely bright star-forming galaxies both close by and in the distant Universe at first glance seem to emphasize their similarity. But look a little closer, and differences emerge.
An objective prism H alpha survey has shown that there is a population of early type spiral galaxies in nearby clusters with strong central bursts of star formation which could be due to galaxy--galaxy tidal interactions. Such galaxies are…
The formation of the first galaxies at redshifts z ~ 10-15 signaled the transition from the simple initial state of the universe to one of ever increasing complexity. We here review recent progress in understanding their assembly process…
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 study of the formation of massive stars presents complex challenges from both theoretical and observational points of view. The initial phases of evolution, for instance, remain almost hidden except at radio and IR wavelengths. In this…
The initial conditions of our Universe can be summarized on a single sheet of paper. Yet the Universe is full of complex structures today, such as stars, galaxies and groups of galaxies. In this review I describe the standard theoretical…
The lower limit of the mass of the first stars suggested recently may imply the formation of massive stars of mass greater than 8 solar mass irrespective of the details of the initial mass function. The production of heavy metals from the…