"The First Stars in our Universe"

It is now possible to evolve the initial conditions observed in the cosmic microwave background forward with modern supercomputers and study ab initio the first stages of non-linear structure formation in the universe. The results that the first luminous objects in the universe should be massive stars and form in isolation has important consequences in our understanding of the formation of super-massive black holes, the early enrichment of the inter-galactic medium, the process that shaped early galaxy evolution as well as the more nearby topics of abundance ratios in metal poor halo stars in our galactic backyard. I will highlight some of the numerical simulations that have established a new paradigm for this early structure formation and outline some of the observational tests of which some are already underway.