Temporal Divergence in Multi-Rate Processes as a Driver of Accelerated Early Galaxy Formation

This paper introduces a temporal-divergence framework for early galaxy formation that explains the unexpectedly rapid assembly of luminous, chemically enriched galaxies observed by JWST without modifying the standard ΛCDM cosmology. Instead of invoking new physics, the model focuses on the relative timescales of baryonic processes—gravitational collapse, radiative cooling, stellar feedback, and chemical enrichment—and shows that structure formation accelerates naturally when these processes operate on comparable timescales. The paper defines three dimensionless divergence parameters that quantify these multi-rate interactions and demonstrates how regimes in which the ratios approach unity produce rapid, efficient star formation consistent with high-redshift observations. The framework provides a compact language for interpreting early galaxies, offers guidance for implementing new prescriptions in semi-analytic and hydrodynamic models, and makes qualitative observational predictions testable using current and upcoming JWST datasets. Rather than redefining cosmology, the work refines the internal timing of galaxy formation physics.