Unveiling the physics of early galaxy and black hole formation with JWST

This 40th annual IAP Symposium is dedicated to the formation of the first galaxies and black holes. After two years of ground-breaking results from the James Webb Space Telescope, this is an excellent opportunity to take stock of the latest results and try to understand what they imply for the physics of galaxy formation. In a remarkably short time, the JWST has revolutionized our view of the early Universe, revealing many galaxies and black holes at record distances. However, the existence and properties of these objects present severe challenges to theoretical models in many ways. Firstly, the overabundance of UV-luminous galaxies at z>10 has led to many scenarios attempting to reconcile observations with current simulations of galaxy formation. The unexpected observation of “quenched” galaxies already in place in the first few billion years after the big bang is equally challenging to understand. In addition, a new population of high-redshift active galactic nuclei is seen in the early Universe with anomalous black hole masses relative to their stellar masses. Finally, the unexpectedly high ionizing properties of star-forming galaxies during the epoch of reionization may lead to an earlier reionization than what is observed from current opacity measurements. This conference will be dedicated to synthesizing our knowledge of the formation of the first galaxies and supermassive black holes and their respective contributions to the reionization of the Universe. Open questions will be discussed in light of new simulations and semi-analytical models that attempt to reproduce a wealth of unprecedented observational constraints. We will bring together observers, numericists and theoreticians to tackle the following main topics: The statistical properties and environment of star-forming and quenched galaxies at high redshift The star-formation histories of early galaxies Physical properties of high-redshift AGNs and the formation scenarios of massive black holes and quasars at early times Confronting theoretical predictions with the most recent observations of early galaxies and AGNs The reionization history of the Universe