Description
Understanding the formation and properties of the first galaxies at the end of
the cosmic dark ages is one of the main challenges in modern cosmology. In
this talk I briefly review the radiative and chemical feedback exerted by the
very first stars in minihalos, followed by a discussion of their impact on
the first galaxies. I present 3D SPH simulations of HII regions and supernova
explosions at high redshift, along with the numerical methods we use to
tackle these problems. A great deal of interesting physics becomes important
with the onset of galaxy formation, with turbulence and metal enrichment being
only two ingredients that create a highly complex, multi-phase insterstellar
medium.