In the Zel'dovich approximation, particle trajectories in a flat expanding universe are described by r(q,t)=a(t)[q+Ψ(q,t)], where a(t) is the scale factor of the universe, q is the unperturbed comoving trajectory and Ψ is the comoving displacement. The particle equation of motion is
r¨=−∇Φ−ρ1∇P
where ρ is the mass density, P is the pressure (P≪ρc2) and Φ is the Newtonian potential which satisfies the Poisson equation ∇2Φ=4πGρ.
(i) Show that the fractional density perturbation and the pressure gradient are given by
δ≡ρˉρ−ρˉ≈−∇q⋅Ψ,∇P≈−ρˉacs2∇q2Ψ
where ∇q has components ∂/∂qi,ρˉ=ρˉ(t) is the homogeneous background density and cs2≡∂P/∂ρ is the sound speed. [You may assume that the Jacobian ∣∂ri/∂qj∣−1= ∣aδij+a∂ψi/∂qj∣−1≈a−3(1−∇q⋅Ψ) for ∣Ψ∣≪∣q∣.]
Use this result to integrate the Poisson equation once and obtain then the evolution equation for the comoving displacement:
Ψ¨+2aa˙Ψ˙−4πGρˉΨ−a2cs2∇q2Ψ=0
[You may assume that the integral of ∇2Φ=4πGρˉ is ∇Φ=4πGρˉr/3, that Ψ is irrotational and that the Raychaudhuri equation is a¨/a≈−4πGρˉ/3 for P≪ρc2.]
Consider the Fourier expansion δ(x,t)=∑kδkexp(ik⋅x) of the density perturbation using the comoving wavenumber k(k=∣k∣) and obtain the evolution equation for the mode δk :
δ¨k+2aa˙δ˙k−(4πGρˉ−cs2k2/a2)δk=0
(ii) Consider a flat matter-dominated universe with a(t)=(t/t0)2/3 (background density ρˉ=1/(6πGt2)) and with an equation of state P=βρ4/3 to show that (∗) becomes
δ¨k+3t4δ˙k−t21(32−vˉs2k2)δk=0
where the constant vˉs2≡(4β/3)(6πG)−1/3t04/3. Seek power law solutions of the form δk∝tα to find the growing and decaying modes
δk=Aktn++Bktn− where n±=−61±[(65)2−vˉs2k2]1/2.