Scientific Colloquium
April 1, 2005
How and when did the cosmic dark
ages end? I present simulations of the
formation of the first stars and
quasars, discuss their impact on the
intergalactic medium, and describe
ways to probe their signature with
the WMAP and JWST missions. The
first supernovae are responsible for the
initial metal enrichment of the
cosmic gas. This initial enrichment event
is predicted to fundamentally
change the character of star formation in
the universe, from a high-mass
dominated mode at early times to a low-mass
dominated one more recently.
Finally, I describe the properties and
statistics of high redshift
Gamma-ray Bursts. The Swift satellite is
ideally suited to test these ideas.