May 20, 2024
The "First Stars" conference series has brought together astronomers and astrophysicists working on the high-redshift universe roughly every four years since 2007[*]. The seventh edition, First Stars VII, will be hosted in New York City by the Flatiron Institute 20-23 May 2024. The meeting will feature invited review talks, contributed talks and posters and will leave ample time for discussion. The scientific program will balance theory, observations, and numerical simulations.
Given the recent and emerging data from JWST and several other facilities, as well as major theoretical advances, First Stars VII will be especially timely, and we expect it to have a large impact on the field of high-redshift astrophysics and cosmology for years to come. The conference will cover the following topics:
- (i) The abundance, properties, and fate of Population III stars, with a connection to near-field probes
- (ii) The nature of the first galaxies
- (iii) Pathways for massive black hole formation and growth and the first quasars
- (iv) Reionization and heating of the early intergalactic medium (IGM)
- (v) Chemical enrichment inside and outside galaxies
- (vi) Gravitational waves as a window to high redshift
- (vii) Connecting the high- and low-redshift universe and
- (viii) Outlook for First Stars VIII.
We expect observational probes to feature unusually heavily at the meeting, given data from several ground-breaking facilities.
Organizers
The Scientific Organizing Committee (SOC) will ensure that the conference is scientifically excellent, as well as inclusive and welcoming to all participants.
Scientific Organizing Committee (SOC):
Laura Blecha (University of Florida)
Sarah Bosman (MPIA)
Greg Bryan (Columbia University)
Christina Eilers (MIT)
Pratika Dayal (University of Groningen)
Anastasia Fialkov (Cambridge University)
Steven Finkelstein (UT Austin)
Anna Frebel (MIT)
Zoltan Haiman, chair (Columbia University)
Takashi Hosokawa (Kyoto University)
Kohei Inayoshi (Peking University)
Charlotte Mason (NBIA Copenhagen)
Melissa Ness (Columbia University)
Alberto Sesana (University of Milan)
Rachel Somerville (Flatiron Institute)
John Wise (Georgia Tech)
Local Organizing Committee (LOC):
Greg Bryan (Columbia University)
Zoltan Haiman (Columbia University)
Melissa Ness (Columbia University)
Rachel Somerville (Flatiron Institute)