Abstract
Current observations are about to open up a direct window into the final frontier of cosmology: the first billion years in cosmic history when the first stars and galaxies formed. Even before the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, it might be possible to utilize Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs) as unique probes of cosmic star formation and the state of the intergalactic medium (IGM) up to redshifts of several tens, when the first (Population III) stars had formed. The Swift mission, or future satellites such as EXIST, might be the first observatories to detect individual Population III stars, provided that massive metal-free stars were able to trigger GRBs. Spectroscopic follow-up observations of the GRB afterglow emission would allow to probe the ionization state and metal enrichment of the IGM as a function of redshift.
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