JSPS-KVA colloquium: Formation of the First Stars and Black Holes in the Universe

by Prof. Naoki Yoshida

Thursday 15 Feb 2024, 15:15 → 16:15 Europe/Stockholm

Recent observations using brand-new telescopes such as NASA's James Webb Space Telescope discovered infant galaxies that were in place when the age of the universe was just a few hundred million years. Massive black holes were also found at the early epochs, suggesting mysterious processes that drive star formation in the "cosmic dawn". I review recent progress in the study on the formation of the first generation of stars. I present the results from state-of-the-art computer simulations of cosmic structure formation, and identify several key issues and open questions. Our super-computer simulations start from realistic cosmological initial conditions that incorporate super-sonic gas motions left over from the Big Bang. Tiny magnetic fields generated by the gas motions are also incorporated. I discuss formation of massive stars, black holes, and gravitational wave sources. Finally, I give prospects for future observations using next generation telescopes.

About the speaker: 

Naoki Yosida is a Professor at Kavli IPMU, University of Tokyo. He graduated from University of Tokyo, followed by a Licentiate of Engineering degree at KTH in Stockholm, and a PhD at the Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics in Garching, Germany. He has thereafter held positions at Harvard University and Nagoya University. In 2017 he was awarded the Japan Academy Medal and the Japan Society of Promotion of Science Prize for his outstanding research on large-scale numerical simulations of structure formation in the early Universe.