The First Stars and Quasars
Volker Bromm, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
How and when did the cosmic dark ages end? I present simulations
of the formation of the first stars and quasars, discuss their feedback
on the intergalactic medium, and describe ways to probe their signature
with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe and the James Webb Space
Telescope. The first supernovae are responsible for the initial metal
enrichment of the cosmic gas, and I address the impact of this initial
enrichment event on the subsequent history of structure formation.
Finally, I describe the properties and statistics of high redshift GRBs and
supernovae that result from the first generation of stars.