New Models of the Cosmic Dawn

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The Cosmic Dawn, when stars first illuminated the Universe, is one of the most exciting frontiers in astronomy. These first generations of luminous objects likely differed significantly from nearby galaxies. While their vast distance from us has so far prevented telescopes from observing them, new facilities are now under construction that hope to probe these first generations of objects in the next several years. This project will develop and publicly release a new theoretical model of these objects, which will link many of their newly observable properties in a coherent framework amenable to modern statistical analyses. The PI will also develop a variety of online materials describing the fascinating astrophysics of this era to the public, including animations, tutorials, and a downloadable application based on some of his models.This project will advance our understanding of the Cosmic Dawn through several related efforts. First, the PI will develop a new set of "semi-analytic" galaxy formation models tuned to the earliest phases of normal galaxy formation in our Universe's history. The models will use physically motivated star formation and feedback prescriptions to explore the wide range of astrophysics that may be relevant during this era. Second, he will improve the treatment of photon absorption in fast simulations of the reionization era, which is essential to model that process accurately. Finally, he will connect these new theoretical models to a wide range of observables, including galaxy measurements and low-frequency radio investigations of the reionization process, using a parameter inference code.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.