Introduction and Cosmological Background
Introduction and Cosmological Background
This chapter describes the essential aspects of the modern cosmological paradigm for understanding the formation of the first galaxies in the Universe. The basic question that cosmology attempts to answer is: What is the composition of the Universe and what initial conditions generated the observed structures in it? The first galaxies were shaped, more than any other class of astrophysical objects, by the pristine initial conditions and basic constituents of the Universe. This chapter shows how studying the formation process of the first galaxies could reveal unique evidence for new physics that has so far remained veiled in older galaxies by complex astrophysical processes.
Keywords: cosmology, galaxy formation, Big Bang, Universe, first galaxies, astrophysical objects, astrophysical processes, standard cosmological model, dark matter, cosmic evolution
Princeton Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.