Abstract

Recent observations using brand-new facilities such as James Webb Space Telescope discovered infant galaxies that were in place when the age of the universe was just a few hundred million years. Even “mature” galaxies were found at the early epochs, suggesting possibly unknown processes that drive star and galaxy formation. I review recent progress in the theoretical study on the first generation of stars. I present the results from state-of-the-art computer simulations of early structure formation, and identify several key issues and open questions. The simulations start from realistic cosmological initial conditions that incorporate super-sonic gas motions left over from the recombination epoch. 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 discuss prospects for future observations using next generation telescopes.