A Cosmological Solution to the Impossibly Early Galaxy Problem

TL;DR

This paper proposes that the early appearance of massive galaxies can be explained by an alternative cosmological model, R_h=ct, which aligns better with observed halo distributions at high redshifts than the standard LCDM model.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the R_h=ct universe's halo mass function matches observational data at z<10, offering a potential solution to the Impossibly Early Galaxy Problem.

Findings

R_h=ct model's halo mass function aligns with high-redshift galaxy data

Weak redshift dependence of halo distribution supports alternative cosmology

Standard LCDM predictions are inconsistent with early galaxy observations

Abstract

To understand the formation and evolution of galaxies at redshifts z < 10, one must invariably introduce specific models (e.g., for the star formation) in order to fully interpret the data. Unfortunately, this tends to render the analysis compliant to the theory and its assumptions, so consensus is still somewhat elusive. Nonetheless, the surprisingly early appearance of massive galaxies challenges the standard model, and the halo mass function estimated from galaxy surveys at z > 4 appears to be inconsistent with the predictions of LCDM, giving rise to what has been termed "The Impossibly Early Galaxy Problem" by some workers in the field. A simple resolution to this question may not be forthcoming. The situation with the halos themselves, however, is more straightforward and, in this paper, we use linear perturbation theory to derive the halo mass function over the redshift range z < 10 for the R_h=ct universe. We use this predicted halo distribution to demonstrate that both its dependence on mass and its very weak dependence on redshift are compatible with the data. The difficulties with LCDM may eventually be overcome with refinements to the underlying theory of star formation and galaxy evolution within the halos. For now, however, we demonstrate that the unexpected early formation of structure may also simply be due to an incorrect choice of the cosmology, rather than to yet unknown astrophysical issues associated with the condensation of mass fluctuations and subsequent galaxy formation.