Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-astrophysics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2021/2/a/solution

Take the initially expanding branch ; the printed squared velocity alone also permits an initially contracting branch, which would not reach a future maximum radius. Multiply the equation of motion by and integrate. The conserved outer-shell specific orbital energy is
The initial mass follows from the background critical density:
Consequently
If means the energy of a test shell of mass , . If it means the total energy of the entire uniform, homologously moving perturbation, direct integration instead gives , and
The common convention of writing the first integral as is therefore an energy per unit shell mass, not the total energy of the sphere.
At spherical-collapse turnaround, , so . Hence
Any positive initial density contrast binds this pressureless perturbation in the stated Einstein-de Sitter universe.

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