Paper 1, Section I, D

Cosmology
Part II, 2010

What is meant by the expression 'Hubble time'?

For a(t)a(t) the scale factor of the universe and assuming a(0)=0a(0)=0 and a(t0)=1a\left(t_{0}\right)=1, where t0t_{0} is the time now, obtain a formula for the size of the particle horizon R0R_{0} of the universe.

Taking

a(t)=(t/t0)α,a(t)=\left(t / t_{0}\right)^{\alpha},

show that R0R_{0} is finite for certain values of α\alpha. What might be the physically relevant values of α\alpha ? Show that the age of the universe is less than the Hubble time for these values of α\alpha.