A KEY GOAL OF COSMOLOGY IS TO UNDERSTAND THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF NONLINEAR STRUCTURE IN THE UNIVERSE INCLUDING STARS GALAXIES AND BLACK HOLES. RICH NEW SETS OF DATA WILL BECOME AVAILABLE SOON FROM MISSIONS SUCH AS JWST WFIRST X-RAY SURVEYOR ATHENA AND LISA AND WILL ADD TO OUR BREADTH OF INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CRITICAL EPOCH. ALTHOUGH CONSIDERABLE EFFORT HAS BEEN DEVOTED TO LARGE-SCALE COSMOLOGICAL SIMULATIONS WITH THE GOAL OF PROVIDING THEORETICAL GUIDANCE FOR THESE UPCOMING MISSIONS LESS ATTENTION HAS BEEN PAID TO THE EQUALLY IMPORTANT SMALLER-SCALE ASTROPHYSICAL PROCESSES THAT UNDERLIE THESE SIMULATIONS AND ARE BELOW THE RESOLUTION LIMIT OF MOST COSMOLOGICAL SIMULATIONS. WE PROPOSE TO EXPLORE SEVERAL ASPECTS OF THIS UNDERLYING ASTROPHYSICS RELATED TO COMPACT STAR CLUSTERS AT HIGH REDSHIFTS INCLUDING (1) THEIR ROLE IN THE PRODUCTION OF SEEDS FOR SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES (SMBHS) (2) THE PHYSICS OF THEIR FORMATION AND GROWTH INCLUDING SUPER-EDDINGTON ACCRETION AND CLOUD FRAGMENTATION (3) THE ROLE OF X-RAY HEATING ON TRIGGERING COMPACT CLUSTERS FORMATION AND (4) THEIR EFFECT ON THE REIONIZATION OF THE UNIVERSE. WE WILL LINK OUR FINDINGS TO PREDICTION AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA FROM MISSIONS SUCH AS THOSE LISTED ABOVE. THIS WORK HAS DIRECT RELEVANCE TO STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1.6 OF NASA: DISCOVER HOW THE UNIVERSE WORKS EXPLORE HOW IT BEGAN AND EVOLVED AND SEARCH FOR LIFE ON PLANETS AROUND OTHER STARS. WITHIN THIS OBJECTIVE WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE NATURE OF BLACK HOLES AND THE PROCESSES OF FORMATION OF STARS AND GALAXIES.