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Principal Investigator: Paul Shapiro

Full Stream Name: Cosmic Dawn: How The First Galaxies Formed, Ended The Dark Ages, and Reionized the Universe

What are the differences between galaxies born and raised in regions of space that were either crowded or sparse, and how did these differences affect the end of the cosmic dark ages?

This stream studies the first billion years of cosmic time when the first galaxies and stars were born, the last window of cosmic time accessible to direct observation.  To test current theory, they use supercomputers to simulate the formation of galaxies and large-scale structure in the expanding universe. When these galaxies formed stars, starlight escaped into the surrounding gas, heating and ionizing it.  This "feedback" impacted future galaxy and star formation and left observable imprints on the universe which astronomers are just now beginning to detect. Students will help make new discoveries with the most advanced simulations in the world, performed at the Texas Advanced Computing Center at UT.   For more information, click here.