PHYS30392 Cosmology

Week 3 Notes

3 Gravity and Curvature of Space

This week, we will learn about Einstein’s equivalence principle and how it leads to the idea that space is curved. We
will then consider some simple mathematical models for spaces with constant curvature, before finally introducing
(probably) the most important equation in cosmology: the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) metric. This ma-
terial will be further developed if you take the Gravitation course next year (we will make minimal use of tensors
here!)

3.1 Equivalence Principle

We start with Newtonian mechanics. Consider a group of N particles. Newton’s law of gravitation allows us to write
the (vector) gravitational force acting on particle i (with gravitational mass mi and located at position ri ) due to
the other N − 1 particles as
N
X mj (ri − rj )
Fi = −Gmi , (1)
j=1
|ri − rj |3
j6=i

where each particle j in the sum has gravitational mass mj and position rj . 1 Newton’s 2nd law relates this force to
the inertial mass of particle i, which we will call Mi , and its acceleration, ai , as Fi = Mi ai . We assume equivalence
of intertial and gravitational masses, mi ≡ Mi , to get the result that the gravitational acceleration does not depend
on particle i’s mass
N
X mj (ri − rj )
ai = −G , (2)
j=1
|ri − rj |3
j6=i

allowing us to conclude that all objects accelerate at the same rate in an external gravitational field, irrespective of
their composition. This assumption of equivalence is not obvious, but it works (and has been experimentally verified
to very high precision). It also led to Einstein’s development of the equivalence principle (of which we will consider
two parts here, the strong and weak equivalence principles) and ultimately his theory of General Relativity.
The essence of the equivalence principle is that the motion of an object in a gravitational field can equivalently be
explained by defining a suitable (local) frame in the absence of gravity. To understand this, consider the following
thought experiments (similar to Einstein’s):
1. An observer is in a rocket on the launchpad and cannot see outside. If they jump from the top of the rocket
they will of course accelerate and fall to the floor because they are in the Earth’s gravitational field.
2. The rocket then launches and travels into deep space, where the gravitational fields are very weak (essentially
zero external forces). With the engine off, it will of course travel with constant velocity and we know the
observer is in a local inertial frame. The observer experiences weightlessness.
3. The observer then switches the engine back on such that the rocket accelerates forward with 1g relative to the
local inertial frame. Relative to the rocket, the observer accelerates to the floor in the same time as on the
launchpad.
4. Finally, the observer heads back to Earth. Once inside the Earth’s gravitational field, the rocket free-falls
towards the surface, before using the engines to land. While in free-fall, the observer again experiences weight-
lessness.
For points 1 and 3, the observer is unable to tell the difference between being at rest in a gravitational field (point
1) to accelerating relative to an inertial frame (point 3) - they fall at the same rate. We assume the two scenarios
are equivalent - known as the Strong Equivalence Principle.
1 For a continuous matter distribution, we would replace mj with ρj dV and the sum with an integral.

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For points 2 and 4, the observer is unable to tell the difference between there being no gravitational field and freely-
falling inside a gravitational field. We assume these two scenarios are also equivalent - this is known as the Weak
Equivalence Principle. We will now discuss two interesting consequences of the equivalence principles that are
relevant to cosmology.

3.1.1 Gravitational Redshift

Consider an observer in the rocket out in space (no gravity). At time t = 0 the engine switches on and a photon is
released upwards from the floor. The rocket accelerates forward (upwards direction) with a = 1g. The weightless
observer observes the photon being detected on the ceiling at time δt when, at this time, the rocket has accelerated
to a speed δv. As a result, the (now moving) detector measures the photon to be Doppler shifted in frequency by a
relative amount
δf δv
=− , (3)
f c
where we are assuming the non-relativistic formula (i.e. v  c). Another observer is standing on the floor and
accelerating with the rocket. The shift in frequency cannot be due to the Doppler effect; it can only be due their
acceleration. Applying the (strong) equivalence principle, the same result must happen inside a gravitational field
(rocket at rest on the launchpad). We can write the photon travel time as δt = δl/c where δl is the height of the
detector, giving us a frequency shift
δf δv gδl δΦ
=− =− 2 =− 2, (4)
f c c c
where for the last result we use δΦ = gδl, i.e. the change in gravitational potential. The change in energy of the
photons in a gravitational potential is known as gravitational redshift. Photons lose energy as they climb out of a
potential well (and gain energy as they fall in).

3.1.2 Curvature of Space

A second important result is what happens to a photon released from a source on the wall of the freely-falling rocket,
at time t = 0. An observer inside the rocket sees the photon travel horizontally (because they are in a local inertial
frame) and detects it on the opposite wall. We can write its (x, y) position as

r(t) = (ct, d), (5)

where d is the height of the source as measured from the floor of the rocket at t = 0. Assume an observer on Earth’s
frame has an origin at the same place at t = 0. They must agree on the photon’s position relative to the rocket
(ending in the photon being detected on the far wall), so in their frame, must measure the photon’s position after
time, t, to be
1
r(t) = (ct, d − gt2 ), (6)
2
so the path is y(x) = d − gx2 /(2c2 ) i.e. the photon’s path must bend downwards in a parabolic trajectory. This led
to the conclusion that space must be curved in a gravitational field, with photons following the shortest path in that
locally curved space (known as a null geodesic).

3.2 Geometry of Space

Curvature is a central feature of cosmological models. We can see how curvature enters by considering the spatial
line element (the separation of two nearby points). For Euclidean space this is

ds23 = dx2 + dy 2 + dz 2 , (7)

which is of course just Pythagoras’ theorem. For curved space, the line element becomes a more complicated matrix
equation which we can write as
ds23 = dxT G(x) dx, (8)
where G(x) is a 3 × 3 square matrix known as the metric tensor. We can see that for Euclidean space, we must have
G = I, i.e. the identity matrix.

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In order to be consistent with the Cosmological Principle (our Universe is both homogeneous and isotropic), we must
insist that the spatial curvature be the same everywhere (at least on large scales). However, interestingly, it can be
positive, zero or negative, with each case producing different spatial geometries. We will explore such cases further
by first considering the three cases in 2D, before extending the results to 3D.

3.2.1 Geometry of 2D Space

Let us consider some properties of each of the three cases in turn:
1. Flat (Euclidean) space with zero curvature:
• Infinite in extent (sheet).
• Angles of a triangle add up to 180◦ , i.e. α + β + γ = π.
• Circumference of a circle with radius b is C = 2πb.
• Initially parallel lines will always remain parallel.
• Distance between two nearby points (x, y) and (x + dx, y + dy) is given by

ds22 = dx2 + dy 2 = dχ2 + χ2 dθ2 , (9)

where the second equation is in polar co-ordinates (χ, θ).

• The area element is dA = dxdy (Cartesians) or dA = χ dχ dθ (polars).
2. Space with positive curvature (surface of sphere x2 + y 2 + z 2 = R2 ):
• Finite in extent.
• Angles of a triangle α + β + γ > π.
• Circumference of a circle C < 2πb.
• Initially parallel lines will converge (e.g. lines of constant longitude).
• Distance between two nearby points: work with (χ, θ) on surface where the origin is now at the north
pole; χ is the distance measured along a line of constant longitude, and θ is an azimuthal angle measured
from zero longitude (or prime meridian):

ds22 = dχ2 + R2 sin2 (χ/R) dθ2 . (10)

• The area element is dA = R sin(χ/R) dχ dθ.

Note that, for the last 2 points, the Euclidean results are recovered when R  χ (sin(χ/R) → χ/R).
3. Space with negative curvature (surface of hyperboloid, saddle, x2 + y 2 − z 2 = R2 ):
• Infinite in extent.
• Angles of a triangle α + β + γ < π.
• Circumference of a circle C > 2πb.
• Initially parallel lines will diverge
• Distance between two nearby points

ds22 = dχ2 + R2 sinh2 (χ/R) dθ2 . (11)

• The area element is dA = R sinh(χ/R) dχ dθ.

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3.2.2 Geometry of 3D Space
We now extend the line element for the above 3 cases to 3D space, parameterised using the dimensionless curvature
constant, κ. We will not prove these results but they should make some intuitive sense.
1. Flat space (κ = 0). The 2D polar case for flat space can be generalised to 3D using spherical polars:
ds23 = dχ2 + χ2 dΩ2 , (12)
where the angular part now depends on 2 angles, θ and φ: dΩ2 = dθ2 + sin2 θ dφ2 .
2. 3-sphere (κ = +1). By analogy, we modify the 2D case with dθ2 → dΩ2 :
ds23 = dχ2 + R2 sin2 (χ/R) dΩ2 . (13)

3. 3-hyperboloid (κ = −1). We make the same relative change as for the 3-sphere:
ds23 = dχ2 + R2 sinh2 (χ/R) dΩ2 . (14)

Now, let us define the function, Sκ (χ), such that


R sin(χ/R)
 if κ = +1
Sκ (χ) = χ if κ = 0 (15)

R sinh(χ/R) if κ = −1.


This allows us to write the line element in compact form (representing all 3 cases)
ds23 = dχ2 + Sκ2 (χ) dΩ2 . (16)
Again, note that, for χ  R, the non-zero curvature cases resemble the flat case, Sκ (χ) → χ.
It is useful for us to make the co-ordinate transformation r = Sκ (χ); we can then write dr = Cκ (χ) dχ, where

cos(χ/R)
 if κ = +1
Cκ (χ) = 1 if κ = 0 (17)

cosh(χ/R) if κ = −1.


This allows us to re-write the line element as

dr2
ds23 = + r2 dΩ2 . check derivation (18)
1 − κ(r/R)2

3.3 FRW metric

The above result describes a line element for 3D space with constant curvature. However, to use it in cosmology, we
need to modify it in two ways.
• Firstly, we need to incorporate the expansion of space. As before, we assume the above co-ordinates are
co-moving co-ordinates, re-scaled by the scale factor a(t).
• Secondly, we know from special relativity that the space-time interval, ds2 , is the more fundamental property
as it is Lorentz invariant.
Adding these two changes, we write ds2 = −c2 dt2 + a2 (t) ds23 , giving us
ds2 = −c2 dt2 + a2 (t) dχ2 + Sκ2 (χ) dΩ2
 

dr2
 
2 2 2 2 2
= −c dt + a (t) + r dΩ . (19)
1 − κ(r/R)2
This is known as the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) metric 2 . It is one of the key equations in this
course. The other key equations are those that allow us to determine a(t) - we will cover them next.
2 or sometimes the Robertson-Walker, or Friedmann-Lemaı̂tre-Robertson-Walker metric