Angular diameter distance ($d_A$)

The angular diameter distance is defined by $d_A=x/\theta$ for a small transverse physical size $x$ subtending angle $\theta$. In a spatially flat Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker metric,where $\chi$ is the comoving radial distance.

In an Einstein-de Sitter universe, $H(z)=H_0(1+z{)}^{3/2}$ and the radial comoving distance is $2H_0^{-1}[1-(1+z{)}^{-1/2}]$. A physical Hubble radius $H(z{)}^{-1}$ has comoving size $(1+z)/H(z)$. Dividing by the radial distance gives the displayed small angle, in radians. A Hubble diameter has twice this angle; the matter-era particle-horizon radius also equals twice the Hubble radius. These distinctions matter when comparing approximate CMB angular scales.

In a standard expanding cosmology, $d_A(z)$ initially increases from zero but eventually decreases because the factor $(1+z{)}^{-1}$ dominates the bounded comoving distance. Beyond its maximum, a fixed physical object subtends a larger angle at a larger redshift.

For a flat universe with a single constant equation-of-state parameter $w>-1$, $H(z)=H_0(1+z{)}^{\alpha }$. Its angular diameter distance is $H_0^{-1}[(1+z{)}^{-\alpha }-(1+z{)}^{-1}]/(1-\alpha )$, with logarithmic limit $H_0^{-1}\log (1+z)/(1+z)$ at $\alpha =1$. Differentiation gives the displayed unique maximum, interpreted as $z_m=e-1$ at $\alpha =1$. The distance vanishes at both endpoints $z=0$ and $z\to \infty$. As $w\downarrow -1$, the maximum moves to infinite cosmological redshift.