Sung-Ju Kang, Iowa State University
This review paper explores one of the central problems in modern cosmology, the formation of the first stars and galaxies at the end of the cosmic 'dark ages'. It is thought that during this epoch the Universe was transformed from its simple initial state into a complex, hierarchical system, through the growth of structure in the dark matter, by the input of heavy elements from the first stars, and by energy injection from these stars and from the first black holes.
