Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ii Paper 1 15D ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
For constant equation-of-state parameter , the cosmological continuity equation integrates to using today's normalization. In conformal time, , so the Friedmann equation becomesSince , the Friedmann acceleration equation givesFor , put . When , integration gives . Integrating then yields the closed constant-equation-of-state Friedmann scale factorChoose a connected interval with positive sine; the origin of conformal time can absorb . For this is the expansion and recollapse branch between consecutive zeros of the sine. Negative instead gives the corresponding minimum-radius branch on its positive-sine interval. The printed power formula excludes : in that exceptional case is constant and , with . A real solution requires the latter constant to be at least one; equality permits a static solution.
For pressure-free matter, , so . Set the big-bang origins to zero. The closed matter-dominated Friedmann solution follows by and integrating :The entire cycle is ; maximum expansion has at , and the big crunch occurs at .