An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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The period during the → early Universe before the → recombination era when the photons were hot enough to ionize hydrogen. The density was so high that the interactions between → matter and → radiation were very numerous. Therefore, matter and photons were in constant contact and their → temperatures were the same. As a result, the radiation became → thermalized, i.e. the → electromagnetic spectrum of the radiation became that of a → blackbody, a process called → thermalization. Since the time of recombination the photons of → cosmic background radiation have been free to travel uninhibited by interactions with matter. Thus, their distribution of energy is a perfect → blackbody curve, as predicted by the → Big Bang theory and shown by several observations, such as → Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE), → Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), and → Planck Satellite.

→ epoch; → thermalization.

1) The process by which a system reaches → thermal equilibrium. Thermalization results from energy exchange between the components constituting the system and their exchange with the outside medium. In a gas at a given temperature, molecules move with different velocities. The gas temperature corresponds to the mean velocity of the molecules, but individual molecules may deviate largely from the mean velocity. Some move very fast others slowly and change velocity upon collisions. Collisions reduce the energy of fast moving molecules and increase that of slow ones. In the process of thermalization → matter and → radiation are in constant interaction such that their → temperatures become identical. The process goes on until energy distribution reaches → equilibrium. The system is said to be → thermalized.
2) The condition where in an → atomic or → molecular → transition the → Boltzmann factor for the two → levels of transition takes on the value it would have in → thermodynamic equilibrium.

Verbal noun of → thermalize.