| Abstract |
Predicted by General Relativity, black holes pose challenging and thorny questions
to our knowledge of the Universe and cosmic structure formation. Just less than 1 billion
years from the Big Bang, black holes whose mass exceeds 1 billion solar masses are now routinely
discovered. Yet, their origin, growth, evolution and impact on the host galaxy and environment remain
largely unknown. When and where did the first black holes form in the Universe? What physics
regulated this event? These are just some of the questions that I will address during my talk,
in the attempt to give a broad and simple overview of this exciting and blossoming field.
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