Cosmology

Winter Term 2015

Bjrn Malte Schfer

University of Heidelberg
Centre for Astronomy
Tutor: Robert Reischke

Sheet 3
Kinematics and Distances in Robertson-Walker spacetimes
Introduction
Having introduced some basic concepts of General Relativity in the lecture we are now in the position of describing kinematics
in spacetimes relevant for cosmology. On the first sheet we discussed the cosmological principle dynamically in a Newtonian
approach. Furthermore we discussed the form of the line-element and showed that it should be of the form given by Eq. (3)
for isotropic and homogeneous spaces.
From the lecture you should recall that vectors (and tensors) transform when they are moved across spacetime. This
transformation is given by the covariant derivative and its deviation from flat space by the connection coefficients or Christoffel
symbols, which are given by the metric and its derivatives, in 4 dimensions

g
( g + g g ) .
2

(1)

You can think of this as some kind of linear mapping acting on vectors: For every coordinate direction you will need a linear
mapping from a vector onto another vector. Since a linear map can be represented by a matrix the Christoffel symbols have three
indices. Freely falling observers follow special curves which are called geodescis (especially light travels on null-geodesics
which have ds2 = 0). This concept is a generalization of a straight line in flat space. The geodesic equation reads

d2 x ()
dx () dx ()
+
= 0,
2
d
d
d

(2)

where is the affine parameter of the curve. Indeed geodesic lines are straight lines with respect to a local coordinate system.
On this sheet we will investigate how particles move in the Robertson-Walker spacetime and how distances can be defined
in cosmology, furthermore we will discuss the concept of horizons, i.e. which regions of spacetime can be reached.

Questions (5 additional points)

We define the Big Bang to happen at time tBB such that a(tBB ) = 0. This means we know when it happened, but do you
know where it happened?
Are all distance measures in cosmology monotonic?
What would you need in principle to decide whether we live in a universe with positive, negative or no curvature?
Can you tell whether the universe is finite or infinite? How does this represent the real world?

3.1 Kinematics and Distances (16 points)

The line element of the Robertson-Walker spacetime is given by

2
2 2
2
ds = c dt + a (t)


dr2
2
+ r d .
1 Kr2

(3)

So far we only used symmetry arguments and did not use the field equations of General Relativity at all. We now would like
to investigate some kinematics in the Robertson-Walker spacetime.
a) Show that the geodesic equation indeed gives you a straight line for flat space. For definiteness use the Minkowski metric
g = diag(1, 1, 1, 1) and show that the solutions to the geodesic equation are straight lines.
i

b) Use the geodesic equation to show that a freely falling observer in Robertson-Walker spacetime initially at rest ( dx
d =0 =
i
0) stays at rest. Hint: Have a look at 00 .

R
c) Calculate the proper distance D(r) = cdt, i.e. the distance measured by the time light needs to travel to an object at
distance r as well as the comoving distance,
R dx i.e. the distance measured
R dx on spatial hypersurfaces at constant time. How

are both related? Hint: You can use 1+x

=
asinh(x)
and
= asin(x).
2
1x2
d) The luminosity distance is given by
r

L
,
(4)
4l
where L is the luminosity of the source and l the flux. Argue by looking at the definition and units of L and l that in an
expanding space the relation between luminosity and flux of a source at radius r is
dL =

L
l=
4a2 (to )r2

a(t)
a(to )

2
,

(5)

with to and t being the time of observation and emission respectively.

e) The angular diameter distance dA is given by the real physical size of an object D at some time t compared to its angular
size
r
D
dA =
.
(6)
d
Use the Robertson-Walker line element to obtain the proper distance D of an object of angular size and use e) to
deduce that
dL
= (1 + z)2 .
(7)
dA
Why is this in principle a very useful expression?

3.2 Horizons (Dont hand in, to be discussed in the exercise groups)

As the speed of light is finite and space is expanding it is an important question to ask which objects in the universe are visible
to us today and in the future. To quantify this we define:
Event horizon: given fundamental observer O, this is a hypersurface in spacetime which divides all events into two non-empty
classes: those that have been, are, or will be observable by O, and those that are forever outside Os possible powers of
observation.
Particle horizon: given cosmic time t0 , this is a surface in the instantaneous 3-space t = t0 which divides all events into two
non-empty classes: those that have already been observable by O at time t0 and those that have not.
a) Is there an event horizon in Minkowski space?
b) What is the basic difference between the two horizons and what is their meaning?
c) Let us place a fundamental observer at the origin, i.e. at comoving coordinate r = 0 and define the function
Zr
dr 0

D(r) :=
.
1 Kr 02
0

(8)

Now consider a light ray emitted at time tem from comoving coordinate rem . Conclude that the proper distance of this
light ray from the origin at time t is


Zt
cdt 0
D = a(t) D(rem )
.
(9)
0
tem a(t )
Argue that the expression in brackets has to vanish at some t for a particle to reach the observer.
d) We now restrict our treatment to K = and K = 1. Conclude that in this case D(r) is a positive and monotonically
increasing function.
e) Show that the proper distance to the event horizon is given by
Z
Deh (t) = a(t)
t

cdt 0
,
a(t 0 )

provided the integral converges. What is the meaning of a divergent integral?

(10)

f) Show now that the proper distance to the particle horizon is given by
Zt
Dph (t) = a(t)
0

cdt 0
.
a(t 0 )

(11)

g) Consider a de-Sitter model with a(t) exp(H0 t). Show that the proper distance to the event horizon is constant and
that there is no particle horizon. Interpret the results, in particular what is the difference between the comoving distance
and the proper distance to the event horizon?