Paper 1, Section I, C

Cosmology
Part II, 2016

The expansion scale factor, a(t)a(t), for an isotropic and spatially homogeneous universe containing material with pressure pp and mass density ρ\rho obeys the equations

ρ˙+3(ρ+p)a˙a=0,(a˙a)2=8πGρ3ka2+Λ3,\begin{gathered} \dot{\rho}+3(\rho+p) \frac{\dot{a}}{a}=0, \\ \left(\frac{\dot{a}}{a}\right)^{2}=\frac{8 \pi G \rho}{3}-\frac{k}{a^{2}}+\frac{\Lambda}{3}, \end{gathered}

where the speed of light is set equal to unity, GG is Newton's constant, kk is a constant equal to 0 or ±1\pm 1, and Λ\Lambda is the cosmological constant. Explain briefly the interpretation of these equations.

Show that these equations imply

a¨a=4πG(ρ+3p)3+Λ3.\frac{\ddot{a}}{a}=-\frac{4 \pi G(\rho+3 p)}{3}+\frac{\Lambda}{3} .

Hence show that a static solution with constant a=asa=a_{\mathrm{s}} exists when p=0p=0 if

Λ=4πGρ=kas2\Lambda=4 \pi G \rho=\frac{k}{a_{\mathrm{s}}^{2}}

What must the value of kk be, if the density ρ\rho is non-zero?