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In cosmology, recombination refers to the epoch during which charged electrons and protons first became bound to form electrically neutral hydrogen atoms. Recombination occurred about 378000 years[1] after the Big Bang (at a redshift of z = 1100).[2] The word "recombination" is misleading, since the Big Bang theory does not posit that protons and electrons had been combined before, but the name exists for historical reasons since it was named before the Big Bang hypothesis became the primary theory of the birth of the universe.
- ^ Tanabashi et al. 2018, p. 358, chpt. 21.4.1: "Big-Bang Cosmology" (Revised September 2017) by K.A. Olive and J.A. Peacock.
- ^ Ryden 2003, p. 159.