The Cosmic Timeline Implied by the JWST High-redshift Galaxies

TL;DR

The paper discusses how recent JWST high-redshift galaxy discoveries challenge the standard LCDM cosmology but align with the R_h=ct universe model, which better explains early galaxy formation timelines.

Contribution

It proposes that the R_h=ct universe model better accounts for early galaxy formation than the standard LCDM model, based on JWST observations.

Findings

JWST high-redshift galaxies challenge LCDM predictions

R_h=ct universe aligns with early galaxy formation timelines

Supports R_h=ct universe as a better cosmological model

Abstract

The so-called `impossibly early galaxy' problem, first identified via the Hubble Space Telescope's observation of galaxies at redshifts z > 10, appears to have been exacerbated by the more recent James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) discovery of galaxy candidates at even higher redshifts (z ~ 17) which, however, are yet to be confirmed spectroscopically. These candidates would have emerged only ~ 230 million years after the big bang in the context of LCDM, requiring a more rapid star formation in the earliest galaxies than appears to be permitted by simulations adopting the concordance model parameters. This time-compression problem would therefore be inconsistent with the age-redshift relation predicted by LCDM. Instead, the sequence of star formation and galaxy assembly would confirm the timeline predicted by the R_h=ct universe, a theoretically advanced version of LCDM that incorporates the `zero active mass' condition from general relativity. This model has accounted for many cosmological data better than LCDM, and eliminates all of its inconsistencies, including the horizon and initial entropy problems. The latest JWST discoveries at z > 14, if confirmed, would add further support to the idea that the R_h=ct universe is favored by the observations over the current standard model.