Aims. The discovery of quasar J1342+0928 (z = 7.54) reinforces the time compression problem associated with the premature formation of structure in A cold dark matter (ACDM). Adopting the Planck parameters, we see this quasar barely 690 Myr after the big bang, no more than several hundred Myr after the transition from Pop III to Pop II star formation. Yet conventional astrophysics would tell us that a 10 M-circle dot seed, created by a Pop II/III supernova, should have taken at least 820 Myr to grow via Eddington-limited accretion. This failure by ACDM constitutes one of its most serious challenges, requiring exotic "fixes", such as anomalously high accretion rates, or the creation of enormously massive (similar to 10(5) M-circle dot) seeds, neither of which is ever seen in the local Universe, or anywhere else for that matter. Indeed, to emphasize this point, J1342+0928 is seen to be accreting at about the Eddington rate, negating any attempt at explaining its unusually high mass due to such exotic means. In this paper, we aim to demonstrate that the discovery of this quasar instead strongly confirms the cosmological timeline predicted by the R-h = Ct Universe. Methods. We assume conventional Eddington-limited accretion and the time versus redshift relation in this model to calculate when a seed needed to start growing as a function of its mass in order to reach the observed mass of J1342+0928 at z = 7.54. Results. Contrary to the tension created in the standard model by the appearance of this massive quasar so early in its history, we find that in the R-h = Ct cosmology, a 10 M-circle dot seed at z similar to 15 (the start of the Epoch of Reionization at t similar to 878 Myr) would have easily grown into an 8 x 10(8) M-circle dot black hole at z = 7.54 (t similar to 1.65 Gyr) via conventional Eddington-limited accretion.

Aims. The discovery of quasar J1342+0928 (z = 7.54) reinforces the time compression problem associated with the premature formation of structure in A cold dark matter (ACDM). Adopting the Planck parameters, we see this quasar barely 690 Myr after the big bang, no more than several hundred Myr after the transition from Pop III to Pop II star formation. Yet conventional astrophysics would tell us that a 10 M-circle dot seed, created by a Pop II/III supernova, should have taken at least 820 Myr to grow via Eddington-limited accretion. This failure by ACDM constitutes one of its most serious challenges, requiring exotic "fixes", such as anomalously high accretion rates, or the creation of enormously massive (similar to 10(5) M-circle dot) seeds, neither of which is ever seen in the local Universe, or anywhere else for that matter. Indeed, to emphasize this point, J1342+0928 is seen to be accreting at about the Eddington rate, negating any attempt at explaining its unusually high mass due to such exotic means. In this paper, we aim to demonstrate that the discovery of this quasar instead strongly confirms the cosmological timeline predicted by the R-h = Ct Universe. Methods. We assume conventional Eddington-limited accretion and the time versus redshift relation in this model to calculate when a seed needed to start growing as a function of its mass in order to reach the observed mass of J1342+0928 at z = 7.54. Results. Contrary to the tension created in the standard model by the appearance of this massive quasar so early in its history, we find that in the R-h = Ct cosmology, a 10 M-circle dot seed at z similar to 15 (the start of the Epoch of Reionization at t similar to 878 Myr) would have easily grown into an 8 x 10(8) M-circle dot black hole at z = 7.54 (t similar to 1.65 Gyr) via conventional Eddington-limited accretion.

Aim. The lack of large-angle correlations in the fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) conflicts with predictions of slow-roll inflation. But while probabilities (≲0.24%) for the missing correlations disfavour the conventional picture at ≳3σ, factors not associated with the model itself may be contributing to the tension. Here we aim to show that the absence of large-angle correlations is best explained with the introduction of a non-zero minimum wave number kmin for the fluctuation power spectrum P(k). Methods. We assumed that quantum fluctuations were generated in the early Universe with a well-defined power spectrum P(k), although with a cut-off kmin ≠ 0. We then re-calculated the angular correlation function of the CMB and compared it with Planck observations. Results. The Planck 2013 data rule out a zero kmin at a confidence level exceeding 8σ. Whereas purely slow-roll inflation would have stretched all fluctuations beyond the horizon, producing a P(k) with kmin = 0 – and therefore strong correlations at all angles – a kmin ≠ 0 would signal the presence of a maximum wavelength at the time (tdec) of decoupling. This argues against the basic inflationary paradigm, and perhaps even suggests non-inflationary alternatives, for the origin and growth of perturbations in the early Universe. In at least one competing cosmology, the Rh = ct universe, the inferred kmin corresponds to the gravitational radius at tdec.