Early universe

Fraser Cain and Pamela L. Gay explore what cosmology can establish about the universe’s earliest history and where knowledge remains limited. The discussion covers inflation, the separation of forces, the emergence of particles and nuclei, and density fluctuations that seed later structure. Recombination and the cosmic microwave background lead into the dark ages, the first stars and reionization, with observations including JWST helping test models of the early universe. Pamela Gay is a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute. This Astronomy Cast episode was published on 14 Septem

…could collapse into black holes in the early Universe, potentially supplying dark matter, and identifies unresolved questions in this account of primordial structure formation.

…on molecular gas, why galaxies in the early Universe formed stars much faster than the Milky Way today, and what eventually suppresses star formation.

This seminar asks how massive black holes grew so quickly in the early Universe. It places the Milky Way's central black hole in the broader population of galactic nuclei, then examines the first billion years of growth. Exceptionally rapid early development challenges current explanations and shapes later cosmic evolution.