Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

ABSTRACT: Star-forming galaxies represent a valuable tracer of cosmic history. Recent observational progress with the Hubble Space Telescope has led to the discovery and study of the earliest-known galaxies at a time when the universe was only ~800 million years old. Intense ultraviolet radiation from these early galaxies probably induced a major event in cosmic history: the reionization of intergalactic hydrogen. In this talk I will briefly review the status of HST observations of distant star-forming galaxies, and focus on current theoretical challenges in interpreting the data and understanding the connection between these distant galaxies and the process of cosmic reionization.