›Dawn of Galaxies

Recent years have seen a dramatic observational push into the final frontier of astrophysical cosmology: the epoch of reionization at z > 6. Color selection techniques have yielded galaxy candidates out to z~10, with ongoing cluster lensing surveys starting to uncover a new ultra-faint population. Slow but steady progress is being made on the spectroscopic follow-up of these galaxies. At the same time, narrow band searches, both wide and deep, are bringing-in an increasing sample of Lyman alpha emitting galaxies. Several of these observational data sets show tentative hints of reionization signatures.

On the theoretical front, state-of-the-art models are being developed, which combine detailed sub-grid physics with large-scale reionization simulations. The efficiency of these multi-scale approaches is finally allowing us to explore the large parameter space of astrophysical uncertainties. This is crucial when making any robust claims about reionization.

The aim of the proposed meeting is to bring together experts at the forefront of reionization-era galaxy research. We seek a roadmap for combining multiple data sets and theoretical models into a coherent, robust picture of the role of galaxies in reionization, and the corresponding reionization signatures.