1.II.15E
(i) A homogeneous and isotropic universe has mass density and scale factor . Show how the conservation of total energy (kinetic plus gravitational potential) when applied to a test particle on the edge of a spherical region in this universe can be used to obtain the Friedmann equation
where is a constant. State clearly any assumptions you have made.
(ii) Assume that the universe is flat and filled with two major components: pressure-free matter and dark energy with equation of state where their mass densities today are given respectively by and . Assuming that each component independently satisfies the fluid conservation equation, , show that the total mass density can be expressed as
where we have set .
Hence, solve the Friedmann equation and show that the scale factor can be expressed in the form
where and are constants which you should specify in terms of and .
[Hint: try the substitution .]
Show that the scale factor has the expected behaviour for a matter-dominated universe at early times and that the universe accelerates at late times .