In the flat Lambda-CDM model,
At low redshift, , so the angular diameter distance satisfies and initially increases from zero. At high redshift, pressureless matter dominates and the integral converges:
Thus the positive continuous function rises from zero and returns toward zero, so it attains an interior maximum. This is the angular diameter distance turnover; beyond it, a fixed physical size appears larger at higher redshift.
If the variable dark-energy equation of state differs slightly from , matter still controls the large- expansion, while the same low- limit holds. The turnover therefore persists under such a small change. More generally, it persists whenever the high-redshift comoving distance grows more slowly than .