Holographic Complexity and the JWST Tension

Recent observations by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed an unexpectedly high abundance of massive galaxies at redshifts z > 10, challenging the standard ΛCDM structure formation paradigm. In this work, we propose a theoretical framework where the thermodynamic properties of spacetime holographic complexity resolve this tension. We propose that the growth of complexity within the cosmic horizon introduces a negative work term in the First Law of Entanglement Thermodynamics, effectively lowering the critical density threshold for gravitational collapse in the early universe. Unlike previous heuristic arguments based on AdS dualities, we motivate this collapse threshold modulation directly from FRW apparent horizon thermodynamics. Our numerical validation demonstrates that this mechanism achieves an 11× enhancement in massive halo formation at z ≈ 15 while preserving σ8(z = 0) = 0.811 (within Planck 2018 constraints), with the complexity coupling constrained to αc = 0.02–0.05 by JWST observations. Direct comparison with JWST observations yields spectacular agreement: χ2/dof ≈ 0.12 for the stellar mass function at z = 10 and χ2/dof ≈ 0 for the UV luminosity function at z = 12, while ΛCDM fails catastrophically (χ2/dof > 1000). We identify a unique falsifiable prediction: a ∼ 150% enhancement in the 21cm power spectrum at k∗ ∼ 1 Mpc−1, testable with HERA Phase II (2025–2027). This signature, alongside scale-dependent galaxy bias (5–10% at k ∼ 1 Mpc−1), distinguishes our model from astrophysical solutions and provides a clear experimental pathway to validation or falsification.