Dates: March 1st-6th 2026
Program [TBD]
Registration: Please apply here: https://aspenphys.org/winter-conferences/ [Will open August 1, 2025]
SOC:
Desika Narayanan (University of Florida, and Cosmic Dawn Center)*
Erica Nelson (University of Colorado, Boulder)
Pascal Oesch (University of Geneva, and Cosmic Dawn Center)
Alexandra Pope (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)
*Please feel free to contact desika.narayanan@ufl.edu with questions
Meeting Rationale:
In 2026, it will have been 10 years since the last major conference at the ACP about galaxy formation during the first billion years of the Universe’s history. In this interval, the emergence of JWST and ALMA have shifted the knowledge-space from relatively mature galaxies some 1 billion years after the Big Bang to the emergence of the first, nearly chemically pristine galaxies likely undergoing their first bursts of star formation a full 700 Myr earlier. The result from these observations is a complete upending of our understanding of the formation of the first galaxies in the Universe. Because of this, we will host a conference at the ACP one decade later, to critically examine 5 emerging challenges in the Epoch of First Light. The major goal of this workshop is to accelerate the community toward finding answers to each of the following 5 outstanding puzzles*
- How are galaxies growing so rapidly to high luminosities and masses at early times?
- What is the physical nature of LRDs, and their potential connection to early black hole growth?
- What drives the first quenching (or miniquenching) episodes in the early Universe?
- How does dust grow so rapidly in the first billion years?
- What drives the photon budget crisis during the EoR?
*Note: While we anticipate that these will be the major topics of the meeting, we also recognize that this is an extraordinarily fast moving field. We therefore solicit abstracts from all areas relevant to the first billion years of the Universe, and given sufficient interest, may adjust these major themes.
Format: We are planning for a discussion heavy conference, with a mixture of invited review talks and shorter contributed talks. Generally, talks will occur 8-11AM every day, and again from 4:30-7pm. The hours in between may be used for collaboration in the ACP’s beautiful offices, discussions over lunch in town, or winter sports and activities (of which there are a plethora).
Logistics: Meeting logistics (i.e., housing, travel logistics, and applications/registration) are handled by the Aspen Center for Physics. We encourage potential participants to investigate the ACP site, though also welcome questions directly emailed to desika.narayanan@ufl.edu.