Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker metric

About: Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker metric is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4113 publications have been published within this topic receiving 87752 citations. The topic is also known as: FLRW metric.

Cosmology Without Averaging

Abstract: We construct cosmological models consisting of large numbers of identical, regularly spaced masses. These models do not rely on any averaging procedures, or on the existence of a global Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) background. They are solutions of Einstein's equations up to higher order corrections in a perturbative expansion, and have large-scale dynamics that are well modelled by the Friedmann equation. We find that the existence of arbitrarily large density contrasts does not change either the magnitude or scale of the background expansion, at least when masses are regularly arranged, and up to the prescribed level of accuracy. We also find that while the local space-time geometry inside each cell can be described as linearly perturbed FRW, one could argue that a more natural description is that of perturbed Minkowski space (in which case the scalar perturbations are simply Newtonian potentials). We expect these models to be of use for understanding and testing ideas about averaging in cosmology, as well as clarifying the relationship between global cosmological dynamics and the static space-times associated with isolated masses.

Interplay between curvature and Planck-scale effects in astrophysics and cosmology

Abstract: Several recent studies have considered the implications for astrophysics and cosmology of some possible nonclassical properties of spacetime at the Planck scale. The new effects, such as a Planck-scale-modified energy-momentum (dispersion) relation, are often inferred from the analysis of some quantum versions of Minkowski spacetime, and therefore the relevant estimates depend heavily on the assumption that there could not be significant interplay between Planck-scale and curvature effects. We here scrutinize this assumption, using as guidance a quantum version of de Sitter spacetime with known Inonu-Wigner contraction to a quantum Minkowski spacetime. And we show that, contrary to common (but unsupported) beliefs, the interplay between Planck-scale and curvature effects can be significant. Within our illustrative example, in the Minkowski limit the quantum-geometry deformation parameter is indeed given by the Planck scale, while in the de Sitter picture the parameter of quantization of geometry depends both on the Planck scale and the curvature scalar. For the much-studied case of Planck-scale effects that intervene in the observation of gamma-ray bursts we can estimate the implications of ``quantum spacetime curvature'' within robust simplifying assumptions. For cosmology at the present stage of the development of the relevant mathematics one cannot go beyond semiheuristic reasoning, and we here propose a candidate approximate description of a quantum FRW geometry, obtained by patching together pieces (with different spacetime curvature) of our quantum de Sitter. This semiheuristic picture, in spite of its limitations, provides rather robust evidence that in the early Universe the interplay between Planck-scale and curvature effects could have been particularly significant.

Closed and open FRW cosmologies with matter creation: kinematic tests

Abstract: The limits imposed by the classical cosmological tests on closed and open FRW universes driven by adiabatic mat- ter creation are investigated. Exact expressions for the lookback time, age of the universe, luminosity distance, angular diame- ter, and galaxy number counts versus redshift are derived and their meaning discussed in detail. An interesting consequence of these cosmological models is the possibility of an accelerated expansion today (as indicated from supernovae observations) with no need to invoke either a cosmological constant or an exotic "quintessence" component.

The zero active mass condition in Friedmann–Robertson–Walker cosmologies

Abstract: Many cosmological measurements today suggest that the Universe is expanding at a constant rate. This is inferred from the observed age versus redshift relationship and various distance indicators, all of which point to a cosmic equation of state (EoS) p = -ρ/3, where ρ and p are, respectively, the total energy density and pressure of the cosmic fluid. It has recently been shown that this result is not a coincidence and simply confirms the fact that the symmetries in the Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) metric appear to be viable only for a medium with zero active mass, i.e., ρ + 3p = 0. In their latest paper, however, Kim, Lasenby and Hobson (2016) have provided what they believe to be a counter argument to this conclusion. Here, we show that these authors are merely repeating the conventional mistake of incorrectly placing the observer simultaneously in a comoving frame, where the lapse function gtt is coordinate dependent when ρ + 3p ≠ 0, and a supposedly different, freefalling frame, in which g tt = 1, implying no time dilation. We demonstrate that the Hubble flow is not inertial when ρ + 3p ≠ 0, so the comoving frame is generally not in free fall, even though in FRW, the comoving and free-falling frames are supposed to be identical at every spacetime point. So this confusion of frames not only constitutes an inconsistency with the fundamental tenets of general relativity but, additionally, there is no possibility of using a gauge transformation to select a set of coordinates for which g tt = 1 when ρ + 3p ≠ 0.

Tidal dynamics in cosmological spacetimes

Abstract: We study the relative motion of nearby free test particles in cosmological spacetimes, such as the FLRW and LTB models. In particular, the influence of spatial inhomogeneities on local tidal accelerations is investigated by means of simple spherically symmetric models. The implications of our results for the dynamics of the solar system are briefly discussed. That is, on the basis of the models studied in this paper, we estimate the tidal influence of the cosmic gravitational field on the orbit of the Earth around the Sun and show that the corresponding temporal rate of variation of the astronomical unit is negligibly small.