First stars and galaxies: clues from Near-Field Cosmology
by
Stefania Salvadori(Observatoire de Paris)
→
Europe/Stockholm
FC61
FC61
Description
The formation of the first stars brought the infant Universe out of the dark
ages and changed its chemical composition by producing the first heavy elements.
Metals, dust, and photons strongly affected the cooling properties of the gas,
and hence the subsequent formation of stars and galaxies. Understanding the
properties of these first cosmic sources is thus a fundamental problem to uncover
the overall galaxy formation process. In the Local Group, spectroscopic studies
of individual stars provide us with the unique opportunity to reveal the chemical
enrichment of the interstellar medium when the Universe was less than 1 Gyr old.
In this talk, I will review the most recent findings for the chemical evolution of the
Local Group from both theoretical and observational perspectives. The implications
for the properties of the first stars and galaxies will be discussed, and new ideas
to connect Near- and Far-Field Cosmology presented.
