A major fraction of star formation in the universe occurs in starbursts. These regions of particularly rapid star formation are often located towards the centers of host galaxies. Studies of this kind of star formation at high redshift have produced astonishing results over recent years that were only possible with the latest generation of large ground-based and space telescopes. The papers collected in this volume present these results in the context of the much firmer foundation of star formation in the local universe, and they emphasize all the important topics, from star formation in different environments to the cosmic star formation history.

Inhalt

I Introduction.- Starbursts Near and Far: An Overview.- II The Initial Mass Function.- The Initial Mass Function in the Galactic Center.- The IMF of Starbursts Near and Far.- Evidence in Favour of IMF Variations.- Evidence Supporting the Universality of the IMF.- The Stellar Content of Obscured Galactic Giant HII Regions.- III Star Formation in Different Environments.- Star Formation in the Galactic Center and Nearby Nuclei.- Star Formation in Galactic Disks.- Nearby Dusty Starbursts.- Starbursts, Dark Matter and Dwarf Galaxy Evolution.- The Starburst-AGN Connection.- Finding Signatures of the Youngest Starbursts.- The BIGGEST Starbursts at the HIGHEST Redshifts.- Star Clusters in Merging Galaxies.- Spectroscopy of Compact Star Clusters in NGC 4038 / 4039.- Near-IR Spectroscopy and Population Synthesis of Super Star Clusters in NGC 1569.- The Obscured Mid-Infrared Continuum of NGC 4418: A Dust- and Ice-Enshrouded AGN.- Modeling Starbursts in Interacting Galaxies.- Evidence for Large Stellar Disks in Elliptical Galaxies.- Starbursts in Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies - Fueling and Properties.- The Stellar Populations of Nearby Radiogalaxies.- IV Star Formation and the ISM.- Starbursting in Spiral Arms and ULIRGs.- Extreme Starbursts and Molecular Clouds in Galaxies.- Starbursts: Triggers and Evolution.- The Genesis of Super Star Clusters as Self-Gravitating HII Regions.- V Global Properties.- Stellar Features in Integrated Starburst Spectra as Stellar Population Diagnostics.- The Stellar Population of Nearby Starbursts.- Star Formation Histories of Starbursts.- Chemical Evolution and Starbursts.- Chemical Abundances and Evolution in Nearby Starbursts.- Can We Date Starbursts?.- Investigating ULIRGs in the Near-Infrared: Imaging and Spectroscopy.- Post-Starburst Populations Near and Far - The Potential of Near-IR Spectroscopy.- Optical Spectra of Dusty Starbursts.- The Nature of ISOCAM Galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field South.- Hard X-rays from Starburst Galaxies Near and Far.- Distribution of Star Formation Between Starbursts and Normal Galaxies.- How to Correct for Dust Absorption in Starbursts.- HST Ultraviolet Spectra of Nearby Starbursts: Benchmarks for High Redshift Galaxies.- VI Cosmic Star Formation History.- Deep NICMOS/HST and Radio 1.4 GHz Observations of Galaxies at High Redshifts.- Star Forming Galaxies at z ? 2.- Identification of ISOPHOT Deep Field Sources.- The History of Starburst Galaxies.- Radio Observations of High Redshift Star Forming Galaxies.- The Cosmic Star-Formation History: The UV Finds Most.- The Cosmic Star-Formation History: The Far-IR and Sub-mm View.