Ay 127: Midterm Solution

Samaporn Tinyanont
February 20, 2017

1. Friedmann equation derivation

(a) A homogeneous and isotropic sphere with some mass M enclosed must have a constant density ρ.
From Newton gravity, one can write the acceleration at the surface of this sphere,
GM
ẍ = −
x2
4πGxρ
=−
3
Introduce the scale factor a such that x(t) = x0 a(t). The density also scales with the scaling factor
as ρ = ρ0 a−3 We get
ä 4
= − 3 πGρ0 (1)
a 3a
To solve this differential equation, realize two identities:
dȧ2
= 2ȧä (2)
 dt
d 1 ȧ
=− 2 (3)
dt a a
Multiply (1) by 2ȧ and get
ȧ 8πGρ0
2ȧä = (4)
a2 3
Integrate this equation with respect to t, we get
8πGρ0
+ C = ȧ2 (5)
3a
Substitute back ρ0 = ρa3 and get
 2
ȧ 8πGρ C
= + 2 (6)
a 3 a
This is the Newtonian limit of the Friedmann equation.
(b) For a radiation dominated universe, we repeat the derivation using ρ = ρ0 a4 . Instead of (1), we
get
ä 4πGρ0
=−
a 3a4
Use the identity d(1/a2 )/dt = −2ȧa−3 , integrate, and get
4πGρ0
ȧ2 = +C
3a2
With ρ0 = ρa4 ,
 2
ȧ 4πGρ C
= + 2 (7)
a 3 a

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2. For a flat universe, the constant C in (6) and (7) is zero.
(a) From (6), we have

8πGρ0 a−3 2
ȧ2 = a
r 3
da 8πGρ0 −1/2
= a
dt 3
r
8πGρ0
a1/2 da = dt
3
For age of the universe, integrate from a = 0 to a = 1/(1 + z) where z is the redshift of the desired
epoch. We get
2
t= p (1 + z)−3/2 (8)
3 8πGρ0 /3
For the radiation dominated universe, we instead have

4πGρ0 a−4 2
ȧ2 = a
r 3
da 4πGρ0 −1
= a
dt 3
r
4πGρ0
a da = dt
3
Computing the same integration gives us
1
t= p (1 + z)−2 (9)
2 4πGρ0 /3

(b) The present age is the age where z = 0. To write this in the H0 unit, realize that ρcrit,0 = 3H02 /8πG.
So we get for the matter dominated universe, (ρ = ρcrit here since Ωm = 1),
2
tnow,matter = (10)
3H0
Similarly for the radiation dominated universe,
1
tnow,rad = (11)
2H0

(c) Recall that the comoving distance is defined as dDc = c dt/a. As such, the comoving distance
between some epoch with scale factor a to now is
Z 1
dt
Dc = c
a a(t)
Z 1 −1/2
8πGρ0 da
=c
a 3 a1/2
c
=2 (1 − a1/2 )
H0
So as a function of redshift,
2c
Dc (z) = (1 − (1 + z)−1/2 ) (12)
H0

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 For the radiation dominated universe, we have
Z 1
dt
Dc = c
a a(t)
Z 1 −1/2
4πGρ0
=c da
a 3
c
= (1 − a)
H0
c
Dc (z) = (1 − (1 + z)−1 )
H0

(d) At z = 1, we get
√ c
Dc,matter (z = 1) = (2 − 2) (13)
H0
and
c
Dc,rad (z = 1) = (14)
2H0
(e) See above
3. For a universe with h = 0.7 (H0 = 70 km s−1 Mpc−1 ), Ωm = 0.3, ΩΛ = 0.7, and TCMB = 2.7 K, compute
these quantities:

(a) The critical density is simply

3H02
ρcrit = = 9.2 × 10−30 g cm−3 (15)
8πG
(b) The radiation density parameter is given by

u/c2 4σcT 4
Ωr = = = 4.9 × 10−5 (16)
ρcrit ρcrit

(c) This is the epoch with the redshift z such that

Ωm (1 + z)3 = Ωr (1 + z)4
Ωm
z= −1
Ωr
z = 6120

Temperature scales as T ∝ (1 + z) since u ∝ T 4 and u ∝ (1 + z)4 . Hence the temperature at this

epoch is TCMB = 2.7(6121) K = 1.7 × 104 K.
(d) This is z such that

Ωm (1 + z)3 = ΩΛ
 1/3
ΩΛ
z= −1
Ωm
z = 0.32

(e) At the epoch of recombination, the Universe is matter-dominated. This is (approximately) true
since the matter-radiation equality. As a result, we can use the result from (2). The age is
 −3/2
trecom 1 + zrecom
=
tmatter−rad 1 + zmatter−rad
tmatter−rad = 29, 000 yr

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 (f) Since T ∝ (1 + z), we get that T = 1010 K happens at z = 1010 /2.7 = 4 × 109 . This is in the
−1/2
radiation dominated era. The age according to 2(a), noting a factor of Ωrad,0 here, is t = 2.8 s.

4. (a) The angular diameter distance is given by

1
DA = Dc (17)
(1 + z)

where Dc is the comoving distance derived in 2(c). Recall that this distance is the physical
size of the standardized ruler dl divided by the apparent angular diameter, dθ. From Dc =
2c −1/2
H0 (1 − (1 + z) ), we get

1 2c
DA = (1 − (1 + z)−1/2 ) (18)
(1 + z) H0

(b) The comoving distance to z = 1100 assuming the Einstein-de Sitter universe is
2c
Dc = (1 − (1 + z)−1/2 )
H0
and dθ = 1◦ = π/180. The Hubble parameter can be estimated from the given age of the universe:
H0 = 2/(3ta ge) = 2.1 × 10−18 s−1 . We get
1 π
dl = Dc = 0.14 kpc (19)
1+z 180
This is a physical (proper) distance. The comoving size at that redshift is dlc = dl(1+z) = 156 Mpc
(c) BAO is caused by this primordial density fluctuation. As a result, the comoving size is the same
as what derived in the last part. As a result, the angular size of the BAO is

dlc /(1 + z)
dθBAO = (20)
DA (z = 0.5)

Take DA from (18), we get

dθBAO = 5.67◦