Chator 14

Tho FrIodnann EquatIon

When Lhe energy equaLion
seems
noL Lo balance
14.1 A 'ovton cannon IaII`
We wlll sLatL Lhls dlscusslon by looklng aL an analogy wlLh Lhe famlllat case
of a cannon ball, shoL up sLtalghL ftom Lhe sutface of Lhe EatLh.
lf we lgnote Lhe dtag ftom Lhe aLmosphete and lnuences ftom Lhe Sun, Lhe
Moon and oLhet planeLs, lL ls easy Lo wtlLe down Lhe NewLonlan equaLlon
of moLlon fot Lhe cannon ball. Radlal veloclLy ` r changes agalnsL dlsLance r
as
` r =

c 2G`r, (14.1)
whete c ls a consLanL ptopotLlonal Lo Lhe LoLal (NewLonlan) enetgy pet unlL
mass of Lhe cannon ball. ToLal enetgy ls made up of poslLlve klneLlc enetgy
and negaLlve poLenLlal enetgy, so c can be poslLlve, zeto ot negaLlve.
lL ls easy Lo see LhaL c = 0 wlll glve Lhe sLandatd escape speed ` r
#
=

2G`r. A poslLlve c wlll ptoduce a speed gteaLet Lhan Lhe escape speed
and vlsa vetsa fot negaLlve c. So a cannon ball wlLh c 0 wlll escape ftom
EatLh and lf c < 0, lL wlll evenLually fall back Lo EatLh.
Now Lhls looks susplclously much llke Lhe case of Lhe open unlvetse, ex-
pandlng fotevet, and Lhe closed unlvetse LhaL wlll one day collapse back Lo
lL's otlgln. BuL does Lhls slmple NewLonlan enetgy balance also hold fot Lhe
expandlng unlvetse? The answet ls: almosL.
182
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CHAIJII 1!. JHI IIIIDMANN IQUAJION 188
14.2 Tho FrIodnann oquatIon
Dutlng Lhe 1920's, Ftledmann showed LhaL ElnsLeln's eld equaLlons have
a soluLlon fot an expandlng unlvetse LhaL ls exLtemely close Lo Lhe 'NewLon
cannon ball' equaLlon dlscussed above. ln lL's slmplesL fotm, Lhe Ftledmann
equaLlon ls vltLually lndlsLlngulshable ftom Lhe NewLon enetgy balance. The
Ftledmann equlvalenL* of eq 14.1 ls
*1hls ls noL Lhe 'real' Frledmann equaLlon, whlch wlll Ee glven shorLly
`
1 =

/
2G`
1
, (14.2)
whete ` ls Lhe LoLal mass of Lhe unlvetse and 1 Lhe ptesenL tadlus of Lhe
enLlte unlvetse (noL Lhe obsetvable patL).
`
1 = d1dt ls Lhe 'veloclLy' of
expanslon and / ls a 'cutvaLute swlLch', selecLlng beLween open, aL and
closed unlvetses.
The / = 0 case ls obvlously Lhe 'aL' unlvetse. The / = 1 case ls an open
unlvetse wlLh negaLlve cutvaLute, buL poslLlve LoLal enetgy. The / = 1
case ls a closed unlvetse wlLh poslLlve cutvaLute, buL negaLlve LoLal enetgy,
meanlng LhaL Lhe expanslon wlll tevetse someLlme ln Lhe fuLute.
CosmologlsLs do noL wotk wlLh Lhe (unknown) mass of Lhe unlvetse ln Lhe
Ftledmann equaLlon. They teplace ` wlLh a funcLlon of Lhe denslLy (j)
of Lhe unlvetse, l.e., ` =

j1

, meanlng mulLlplylng Lhe volume of Lhe

sphete (

) by lL's mass denslLy (j). SubsLlLuLlng ` lnLo eq. 14.2 glves

Lhe sLandatd Ftledmann equaLlon
`
1 =

Gj1

,
whlch can also be wtlLLen as
` aa =

/1

Gj, (14.8)
slnce
`
11 = ` aa, whete a ls Lhe expanslon facLot. Hete /1

teptesenLs
'cutvaLute denslLy', wlLh a slgn dependlng on Lhe value of /, and wlLh a
magnlLude dependlng on Lhe tadlus 1.
14.3 Tho donsIty aranotor
CosmologlsLs wotk wlLh a dlmenslonless denslLy patameLet, dened as
! =
j
j

=
8G
8

H

j, (14.4)
whete j

ls a ctlLlcal denslLy LhaL wlll ptoduce a aL ElnsLeln-de SlLLet

unlvetse wlLh ! = 1. Fot an open unlvetse, ! < 1, whlch can be called
an undet-dense" sLaLe and vlsa vetsa fot a closed unlvetse, whlch can be
called ovet-dense".
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CHAIJII 1!. JHI IIIIDMANN IQUAJION 184
The Ftledman equaLlon can be wotked lnLo Lhls mosL useful fotm |Peebles|
aL leasL fot a 'maLLet only' unlvetse:
` a =

H

1 !
!
a
, (14.)
l.e., Lhe expanslon taLe ln Letms of Lhe Hubble consLanL, Lhe denslLy patame-
Let and Lhe expanslon facLot, all measutable quanLlLles, aL leasL ln ptlnclple.
lL ls mosLly casL lnLo Lhe fotm
` a
a
=

H

1 !
a

!
a

, (14.6)
because lL ls easlet Lo undetsLand-e.g., lf Lhe amounL of maLLet temalns
consLanL, Lhe maLLet denslLy ! ls lnvetsely ptopotLlonal Lo Lhe cube of Lhe
expanslon facLot, l.e., Lo Lhe volume of Lhe unlvetse.
Thls ls Lhe expanslon law fot a 'cutved' unlvetse, whete only maLLet denslLy
ls accounLed fot. NoLe LhaL when ! = 1, we have Lhe expanslon law of Lhe
ElnsLeln-de SlLLet model.
The quanLlLy 1! ls someLlmes called Lhe 'cutvaLute patameLet', l.e. !
&
=
1 !. (See e.g., |Peebles|). When !
&
= 0 Lhete ls no cutvaLute and !
&
goes poslLlve and negaLlve cottespondlng Lo poslLlve ot negaLlve cutvaLute.
EquaLlon 14.5 was used Lo ploL Lhe cutves ln gute 14.1, noL dltecLly, buL
by numetlcally lnLegtaLlng dt wlLh tespecL Lo a ftom a = 0 Lo a = 1. Slnce
` a = dadt, Lhe lnLegtal ls
t =
1

da

1 ! !a
. (14.7)
A mlddle of Lhe tange" Hubble consLanL of 64 kmsMpc wete used.*
*IL seems LhaL aL Lhe Llme of wrlLlng, Lhe 'EesL L' value of 0

ls 72 kmsMc.
The 'closed', 'aL' and 'open' cutves Lell us some lmpotLanL Lhlngs. FltsLly,
Lhe age of Lhe unlvetse as ptedlcLed by Lhe sLandatd cosmology can be tead
of Lhe gtaphs fot Lhe Lhtee cutves: abouL 8.6 Cy fot Lhe closed cutve, 10
Cy fot Lhe aL cutve and jusL ovet 12 Cy fot Lhe open cutve, conslsLenL wlLh
a Hubble consLanL of 64 kmsMps.
Secondly, all Lhtee cutves cuL Lhe llne a(t) = 1 wlLh ldenLlcal slopes. Thls
musL be so, because Lhey wete all calculaLed fot Lhe same H

, whlch ls Lhe
slope of Lhe cutves aL a(t) = 1.
Thltdly, Lhe taLe of change of Lhe slopes ls Lhe hlghesL fot Lhe closed model,
explalnlng why lL ls Lhe one LhaL wlll evenLually teLutn Lo a(t) = 0. The
closed model sLatLs expanslon fasLet Lhan Lhe oLhets, buL belng mote dense,
Lhe expanslon evenLually sLops and gtavlLaLlonal collapse follows.
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CHAIJII 1!. JHI IIIIDMANN IQUAJION 18
0 2 4 6 S 10 12 14
1ino in Gy
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.S
1.0
()
0

= 64 U = 08
opon

U = 1

U = 2
closoo

FIgure 14.1: 1he exanslon facLor () agalnsL Llme for dlerenL values of U. 1he
'closed' curve ls a secLlon of an elllse and Lhe sloe of Lhe curve wlll evenLually Eecome
negaLlve and reLurn Lo () = 0, l.e., gravlLaLlonal collase. 1he 'aL' curve ls a secLlon
of a araEola and Lhe sloe wlll Lend Lowards zero as Llme Lends Lo lnnlLy. 1he 'oen'
curve ls a secLlon of a hyerEola and wlll have a oslLlve sloe forever.
14.4 OonsIty accountIng
AL Lhls polnL lL ls apptoptlaLe Lo lnLtoduce Lhe facL LhaL enetgy denslLy need
noL necessatlly be made op by mass alone. Slnce mass ls Lhe same Lhlng as
enetgy, all fotms of enetgy musL be accounLed fot. CosmologlsLs use Lhtee
fotms of enetgy ln Lhelt accounLlng": mass enetgy, tadlaLlon enetgy and
vacuum enetgy. The tespecLlve conLtlbuLlons Lo ! ate denoLed by !

, !

and !

.
Fot Lhe ptesenL value of !, Lhe accounLanL's job ls slmple, because ! =
!

. lf howevet, we wanL Lo tefet Lo Lhe value of ! aL some

oLhet epoch, lL ls a blL mote lnvolved.
The denslLy of maLLet decteases lnvetsely ptopotLlonal Lo Lhe cube of Lhe
expanslon facLot (l.e., a

). The tadlaLlon enetgy denslLy decteases lnvetsely

ptopotLlonal Lo a

, belng teduced by boLh Lhe expandlng volume and Lhe

tedshlfL. Vacuum enetgy denslLy temalns consLanL because as mote space
ls cteaLed by Lhe expanslon, so mote vacuum enetgy can be cteaLed ln a
llneat fashlon.*
*1haL ls lf Lhe vacuum energy ls noL exacLly zero aL all Llmes.
Thls glves ! as a funcLlon of Lhe expanslon facLot
!(a) =
!

, (14.8)
whete !

, !

and !

ls Lhe values of Lhe ptesenL Llme. Thls lllusLtaLes Lhe

epoch dependency of ! on Lhe vatlous facLots maklng lL up.
When Lhe unlvetse was vety young and small (a 1), Lhe tadlaLlon compo-
nenL !

domlnaLed Lhe accounLlng. BuL slnce !

ls much latget Lhan

!

, as soon as a gtew latget, Lhe mass componenL !

sLatLed Lo dom-
lnaLe. And lf Lhe vacuum enetgy denslLy !

has even a vety small value,

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CHAIJII 1!. JHI IIIIDMANN IQUAJION 186
Lhen as Llme goes on and a 1, !

wlll sLatL Lo domlnaLe Lhe accounLlng.

We can now tewtlLe Lhe Ftledmann equaLlon (eq. 14.6 above) ln Letms of
Lhe full ! as
` aa =

H

1 !
a

, (14.9)
whete ! = !

. Remembet LhaL all Lhe !'s have Lhelt ptesenL

values, wlLh Lhe Llme dependencles sotLed ouL by Lhe a
)
denomlnaLots.
EquaLlon 14.9 ls Lhe genetal expanslon law fot mosL of Lhe hlsLoty of Lhe
unlvetse.* Llke befote, Lhe lnvetse of Lhls equaLlon can be numetlcally
*IL does noL accounL for 'lnaLlon', whlch ls Lhe Lolc of Lhe nexL chaLer.
lnLegtaLed Lo nd Lhe expanslon cutve fot any makeup of !.
All Lhe above accounLlng" fot ! seems Lo compllcaLe maLLets consldetably.
And so lL does, maklng lL almosL lmposslble Lo petcelve how a aL" ! = 1
can be malnLalned. FotLunaLely Lhe ptesenL day conLtlbuLlon of tadlaLlon
enetgy ls exLtemely small. lL was only ln Lhe tsL one Len-LhousandLhs ot
so of Lhe age of unlvetse LhaL tadlaLlon enetgy was lmpotLanL. AfLet LhaL,
maLLet denslLy domlnaLed tadlaLlon denslLy almosL LoLally.
Vacuum enetgy ls noL as cleat-cuL as LhaL, because as we have seen above,
lL does noL geL dlluLed by Lhe expanslon of Lhe unlvetse. The quesLlon ls,
does vacuum enetgy make any slgnlcanL conLtlbuLlon Lo Lhe LoLal enetgy
denslLy, aL leasL aL Lhe ptesenL Llme?
We wlll teLutn Lo Lhls quesLlon shotLly, buL tsL we wlll look aL Lhe quesLlon of
Lhe sLablllLy of Lhe aL" sLaLe, ln oLhet wotds, ls ! = 1 a sLable condlLlon?
14. Tho staIIIIty oI
We have seen ln Lhe ptevlous secLlons LhaL fot Lhe unlvetse Lo be aL, l.e.
expandlng jusL fasL enough Lo ptevenL collapslng back lnLo a slngulatlLy, Lhe
LoLal of all conLtlbuLlons Lo Lhe denslLy patameLet ! musL add up Lo unlLy.
BuL Lo malnLaln ! = 1 needs a balanclng acL abouL as dlfculL as maklng a
pencll sLand on lL's ne polnL on a aL Lable Lop. The smallesL petLutbaLlon
ftom unlLy wlll make ! evolve away ftom LhaL value as Lhe unlvetse expands.
CosmologlsLs ate teasonably condenL LhaL Lhe ptesenL value of ! falls ln
Lhe tange 0.93 Lo 1.01. Then Lhey calculaLe back Lo close Lo Lhe blg bang
and nd LhaL ! musL have Lhen been wlLhln a facLot 1 ln 10

ftom unlLy
Lhen. lf noL, ! would have evolved Lo lle ouLslde Lhe obsetvaLlonal tange
Loday.
Because Lhls ls such an lmpotLanL aspecL of cosmology, we wlll btley ex-
amlne why and how ! evolves away ftom unlLy, once lL devlaLes ftom LhaL
value.
A sllghLly lmpetfecL analogy ls Lhe case of Lhe cannon ball shoL tadlally
away ftom EatLh whete ftlcLlon wlLh Lhe aLmosphete ls lgnoted. lf Lhe lnlLlal
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CHAIJII 1!. JHI IIIIDMANN IQUAJION 187
tadlal veloclLy ls exacLly equal Lo escape veloclLy

2G`r, Lhen Lhe tadlal

veloclLy wlll dectease, buL lL wlll always be equal Lo Lhe escape veloclLy fot
Lhe dlsLance aL whlch Lhe cannon ball nds lLself.
lf Lhe lnlLlal tadlal veloclLy was evet so sllghLly smallet Lhan Lhe escape
veloclLy, Lhe cannon ball wlll slow down Loo fasL unLll lL evenLually sLatLs
Lo dtop back Lo EatLh agaln. ln oLhet wotds Lhe veloclLy wlll evenLually
dtasLlcally dlvetge ftom Lhe escape veloclLy.
Fot Lhe unlvetse aL latge, Lhe same efecL ls aL wotk. SllghLly Loo small
an expanslon taLe wlll cause Lhe expanslon taLe Lo dlvetge away ftom Lhe
'ctlLlcal expanslon taLe' H

, whlch can be exptessed as follows:

H

=
` a

a
=

8G
8
j

. (14.10)
An expanslon taLe slowet Lhan H

wlll cause Lhe expanslon Lo sLop and

conLtacLlon Lo Lake ovet. An expanslon taLe hlghet Lhan H

wlll cause Lhe

denslLy Lo dtop Loo fasL and Lhe denslLy patameLet wlll dlvetge Lo zeto.
Cnly lf H = H

and ! = 1 wlll Lhe ctlLlcal balance be malnLalned lnde-

nlLely. lL ls howevet noL posslble Lo esLabllsh (by obsetvaLlon) wheLhet ! = 1
pteclsely, due Lo lnevlLable uncetLalnLles ln Lhe obsetvaLlons. CosmologlsLs
come qulLe close, howevet.
14.6 Tho onorgy oI tho vacuun
The enetgy of Lhe vacuum was tsL uLlllzed by ElnsLeln ln hls efotLs Lo make
hls own equaLlons of genetal telaLlvlLy compaLlble wlLh a sLaLlc unlvetse.
Even sLandatd NewLon cosmology would noL allow such a sLaLlc unlvetse,
because Lhe muLual aLLtacLlon of all Lhe maLLet ln Lhe unlvetse would sutely
make lL Lo conLtacL. ThaL ls unless Lhe unlvetse as a whole ls toLaLlng
telaLlve Lo some ot oLhet absoluLe tefetence ftame, whlch ls appatenLly noL
Lhe case.
The belleve LhaL Lhe unlvetse was sLaLlc was howevet so sLtong ln hls Llme,
LhaL ElnsLeln btoughL ln a u.nu|uj.n| un.InnI lnLo hls equaLlons Lo acL
as a tepulslve fotce, Lhus ptevenLlng hls sLaLlc unlvetse ftom conLtacLlng.*
*1he cosmologlcal consLanL ls roorLlonal Lo Lhe energy arameLer of Lhe vacuum:
A = 8

0

.
LaLet, when Hubble and oLhets ptoved LhaL Lhe unlvetse ls acLually expand-
lng, ElnsLeln tepudlaLed Lhe cosmologlcal consLanL ln hls equaLlons.
BuL ElnsLeln's declataLlon LhaL lL was Lhe blggesL blundet of hls sclenLlc
cateet" dld noL make Lhe cosmologlcal consLanL go away compleLely. lL was
Loyed wlLh ftom Llme Lo Llme and Loday lL ls a hoL Loplc ln cosmology.
Why? FltsLly, asLtonomets cannoL nd enough mass ot oLhet fotms of en-
etgy Lo balance Lhe expanslon equaLlons. Secondly, one of Lhe besL Lheotles
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CHAIJII 1!. JHI IIIIDMANN IQUAJION 188
LhaL explalns how Lhe unlvetse goL Lo be expandlng ln Lhe tsL place, .n-
nI.un I|u:j, needs vacuum enetgy. Thltdly, lL appeats LhaL Lhe unlvetsal
expanslon ls noL slowlng down as lL ptopetly" should.
lL may even be acceletaLlng, lf one Lakes tecenL obsetvaLlons aL face value.
We wlll teLutn Lo lnaLlon and posslble acceletaLlon ln Lhe expanslon taLe
laLet, buL tsL we need Lo geL a feellng fot whaL Lhls n:jj u I| rn&&n
ls.
A feellng" ls abouL all LhaL ls wlLhln Lhe scope of Lhls book. Vacuum
enetgy falls wlLhln Lhe tealms of quanLum Lheoty, whlch ls a pteLLy complex
subjecL.
The quanLum vacuum ls noL an empLy place. Thete ate ucLuaLlng quanLum
elds wlLh all posslble wavelengLhs LhaL move ln all posslble dltecLlons. lf
avetaged ovet Llme, Lhese elds cancel ouL and we have a classlcal vacuum-
tesembllng whaL we Lhlnk of as empLy space, wlLh zeto avetage enetgy.
lf howevet Lhe elds do noL cancel ouL, we have, ln Lhe jatgon of physlcs, a
n|. rn&&n. Cvet shotL petlods of Llme, Lhe quanLum elds do noL have
Lo cancel ouL and lf Lhe tesulLanL eld ls poslLlve, Lhen accotdlng Lo quanLum
Lheoty, Lhls poslLlve eld can acL on maLLet as a tepulslve cosmologlcal fotce,
someLhlng llke anLl-gtavlLy".
ln an expandlng unlvetse, such a fotce exLtacLs enetgy ftom Lhe vacuum
and convetLs lL lnLo addlLlonal klneLlc enetgy of expanslon. The vacuum
musL Lhetefote end up wlLh neLL negaLlve enetgy. Thls negaLlve enetgy of
Lhe vacuum ptoduces a conLtacLlve cosmologlcal fotce, balanclng Lhe exLta
klneLlc enetgy.
ln Lhls way, vacuum enetgy can wotk boLh ways (tepulslve and conLtacLlve)
aL Lhe same Llme. lL ls Lhe negaLlve componenL of Lhe vacuum enetgy LhaL
ls added lnLo Lhe 'accounLlng' equaLlon fot ! (eq. 14.8 on page 185). ln
Lhls way, Lhe poslLlve klneLlc enetgy of expanslon ls pteclsely balanced by
Lhe negaLlve conLtacLlve enetgy, malnLalnlng a 'aL', ! = 1 unlvetse.
0 2 4 6 S 10 12 14
1ino in Gy
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.S
1.0
()
0 = 64
U = 1
U = 0

U = 08
U = 07

FIgure 14.2: 1he exanslon facLor () agalnsL Llme for Lhe U

= 1 and Lhe
U U = 1 cases. 1he lefL curve has Lhe same form as Lhe 'aL' case ln gure 14.1.
NoLe how much older Lhe unlverse wlLh areclaEle vacuum energy ls-more Lhan 14 Cy.
(0 = 64 kmsMc).
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CHAIJII 1!. JHI IIIIDMANN IQUAJION 189
14.7 Sunnary oI FrIodnann nodoI
ln summaty Lhen, lf Lhe expanslon enetgy accounLlng book does noL balance,
we have elLhet an open ot a closed unlvetse. lf Lhe book balances, even lf
Lhe taLe of unlvetsal expanslon ls lncteaslng due Lo vacuum enetgy, we have
a 'aL', ! = 1 unlvetse.
RecenL obsetvaLlons seem Lo lndlcaLe LhaL we llve ln such a aL unlvetse,
posslbly domlnaLed by vacuum enetgy alteady. Flgute 14.2 shows a com-
patlson beLween Lhe expanslon cutves fot a 'notmal' aL unlvetse and a aL
unlvetse wlLh vacuum enetgy opetaLlng alteady.
lL ls teasonably assumed LhaL !

0 Loday and LhaL ! = !

= 1. A
Hubble consLanL of 64 kmsMpc was used, alLhough Lhe laLesL lndlcaLlons
ate LhaL a value of 12 ls Lhe 'besL L'. Thls btlngs Lhe age of Lhe unlvetse
down Lo abouL 13.6 Cy.
ln Lhe nexL chapLet we wlll see LhaL vacuum enetgy could have been Lhe
mechanlsm LhaL have sLatLed Lhe whole ptocess of unlvetsal expanslon ln
Lhe tsL place-Lhe so called lnaLlonaty blg bang".
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