Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-astrophysics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2022/3/c/solution
Past exam of the astrophysics course of the University of Oxford 2022 3 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
The ordinary Sachs-Wolfe effect combines intrinsic last-scattering temperature with the gravitational redshift of photons escaping the last-scattering gravitational potential. For adiabatic large-scale perturbations in matter domination, with the potential convention in the question, the combination is , up to the observer monopole. It is distinct from the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect caused by a time-varying potential along the later line of sight.
Use the Fourier transform convention in which is the matter power spectrum and . The Poisson equation becomes , givingWith the matter-dominated critical-density approximation ,independent of . Thus the Harrison-Zeldovich spectrum gives scale-invariant potential fluctuations and the requested dependence. Keeping a general present matter fraction would insert ; the answer here follows the stipulated critical matter-dominated normalization. In this Fourier transform convention, has dimensions of length to the fourth power.
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