Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2009/ii/paper-3/15d/i/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ii Paper 3 15D i Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Mass conservation in the Zeldovich approximation gives . Expanding the trajectory Jacobian determinant to first order therefore yields . At the same order, andThe last equality uses and the vector calculus .
Split the gravitational potential into its homogeneous-background and perturbed parts. The background has . For the perturbation, Poisson equation and irrotationality givewith a harmonic or uniform-acceleration contribution set to zero by the perturbation boundary conditions. Its divergence is , as required. Insert this and the pressure gradient into . The background acceleration cancels using , leavingTake minus the comoving divergence, and expand . Since acts on a Fourier mode by , each mode satisfiesHere the expansion coordinate is comoving; confusing it with the physical coordinate would lose the factor .
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