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We discuss the formation of supermassive black holes in the early universe, and how to probe their subsequent evolution with the upcoming mm/sub-mm telescope ALMA. We first focus on the chemical and radiative conditions for black hole formation, in particular considering radiation trapping and molecular dissociation effects. We then turn our attention towards the magnetic properties in the halos where the first black holes form, and show that the presence of turbulence may lead to a magnetic dynamo, which could support the black hole formation process by providing an efficient means of transporting the angular momentum. We finally focus on observable properties of high-redshift black holes with respect to ALMA, and discuss how to distinguish between chemistry driven by the starburst and chemistry driven by X-rays from the black hole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been recently suggested that stable, supersymmetric B-balls formed in the early universe could not only be the dark matter at the present epoch, but also be responsible for baryogenesis by their partial evaporation at high temperatures. We reinvestigate the efficiency of B-ball baryogenesis and find it to be limited by the diffusion of baryon number away from the B-balls. Successful baryogenesis may only occur for B-balls with charges Q ≈ 10[sup 20] - 5 x 10[sup 23], which is close to the observational lower limits on the Q of a significant B-ball dark matter component. We also present a cosmological constraint on the abundances of larger instable B-balls in the early universe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss possible implications of strong primordial magnetic fields, which may have been created during cosmic inflation or the QCD / electroweak phase transition, and explore how they influence the epoch of reionization and primordial star formation. Globally, magnetic fields may delay reionization, as the magnetic pressure suppresses gravitational collapse in small halos. In the protostellar collapse phase, we find that ambipolar diffusion heating does not change the fragmentation mass scale significantly, but may enhance the accretion rate at higher densities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]