Starbursts are important features of early galaxy evolution. Many of the distant, high-redshift galaxies we are able to detect are in a starbursting phase, often apparently provoked by a violent gravitational interaction with another galaxy. In fact, if we did not know that major starbursts existed, these conference proceedings testify that we would indeed have difficulties explaining the key properties of the Universe! These conference proceedings cover starbursts from the small-scale star-forming regions in nearby galaxies to galaxy-wide events at high redshifts; one of the major themes of the conference proved to be "scalability", i.e., can we scale up the small-scale events to describe the physics on larger scales. The key outcome of this meeting -- and these proceedings -- is a resounding "yes" as answer to this fundamental, yet profound question. The enhanced synergy facilitated by the collaboration among observers using cutting-edge ground and space-based facilities, theorists and modellers has made these proceedings into a true reflection of the state of the art in this very rapidly evolving field.
Ample space is provided for summaries of the large number of talks by experts in the field, while the high-quality poster contributions are all contained on the accompanying CD-ROM, thus enhancing the information content.
Table of Contents
Session I: Local Starbursts as Benchmarks for Galaxy, Evolution 1.- Session II: The Initial Mass Function in Starburst, Regions: Environmental Dependences?- Session III: Starbursts as a Function of Wavelength.- Session IV: Triggering and Quenching of Starbursts and the Effects of Galactic Interactions.- Session V: Star-Formation Rates in Relation to the Host Galaxy Properties.- Session VI: Starburst Tracers: Gas, Dust and Star Formation.- Session VII: Starbursts at Intermediate Redshifts and the Starburst versus AGN Paradigm.- Session VIII: Violent Star Formation and the Properties of Star-Forming Galaxies at High Redshift.- Session IX: Conference Summary.- Poster Contributions cd-rom.- Memorable Quotes.- Author Index.- Object Index.
