Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 346 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The shell equation is conservative because its radial acceleration is the negative derivative of the specific potential energyMultiplying the equation of motion by givesHenceThis is energy per unit shell mass. The total energy of a uniform sphere requires integrating the energies of its shells.
For a sphere of physical radius , the shell theorem gives and . Assemble the sphere shell by shell to obtain its Newtonian gravitational potential energy:The cosmological constant contributes a prescribed one-body potential , rather than a pair interaction, so there is no additional factor :Evaluating at the turnaround radius givesAs in the question, here includes the factor that would multiply the geometrical cosmological constant in SI units.
For the final equilibrium apply the scalar virial theorem. The gravitational virial is , whereas the cosmological constant force contributesThus, neglecting a surface-pressure term,At fixed , a positive cosmological constant reduces the kinetic energy needed for virial equilibrium because its outward acceleration partially offsets self-gravity.
For the uniform-sphere collapse with a cosmological constant, assume a uniform final sphere of the same mass, with no energy loss or escaping matter. PutThe sphere has no bulk kinetic energy at turnaround, so . The final virial theorem givesSince ,Conservation of energy therefore givesSelect the collapsing branch continuous from at , rather than an unrelated root of the cubic equation.
For , the root lies close to . Linearize there:Substitution into the cubic equation gives , whenceThe rational expression is an approximation, not an exact solution of the cubic equation. In fact both it and the exact collapsing root agree through order ; their first difference is of order .
With zero cosmological constant, spherical collapse gives . For small positive , the same sphere with the same turnaround radius reaches a smaller final radius. This does not mean that repulsion promotes collapse: as the sphere contracts, becomes less negative, so some released gravitational binding energy pays the energetic cost of moving inward against the repulsive force. Combined with the modified virial theorem, energy conservation requires a more compact endpoint. Positive can prevent turnaround altogether; an inward acceleration at requiresThe perturbative radius formula applies well inside this limit, for spheres that actually turn around. A small negative cosmological constant instead gives at fixed turnaround data.