In deep matter domination, the scale factor is , so . Neglect radiation in the gravity source, including its backreaction, to obtain
For a power the Euler-Cauchy equation becomes . Its two independent matter-era growing and decaying density modes give the full approximate solution
There is no -dependent pressure term for cold dark matter. Thus this leading equation is valid both outside and inside the horizon in the stated comoving synchronous gauge, as long as the perturbations remain linear and the omitted radiation gravity is negligible. A different time slicing would give a different density variable.
For , put , and . The remaining radiation equation is a forced harmonic oscillator:
The matter-era forced radiation response can be written exactly within the matter-background approximation as
The last term is a Green's function particular solution; changing its lower limit only changes the two oscillatory constants. For the decaying source, a slowly varying particular solution obeys , since a second time derivative is smaller than by order . Consequently the subhorizon asymptotic form is
For a pure growing mode, the constant offset and acoustic terms are an exact solution of this reduced radiation equation. In particular, the late radiation contrast does not follow the ever-growing .
Before crossing, a regular growing adiabatic cosmological perturbation has both contrasts proportional to , with to leading order. Afterwards cold dark matter keeps this quadratic growth, whereas radiation undergoes subhorizon radiation acoustic oscillations about a constant forced offset. To make the requested sketch concrete, one regular leading matter-era solution on both sides is
Its small- expansion gives , and its oscillation frequency is the radiation sound frequency. The sketch plots amplitudes in units of ; can be chosen small enough that the whole plotted interval remains linear. The line at uses the wavelength-to-particle-horizon convention in the question, rather than asserting that the smooth transition occurs at a sharp surface.
Figure 1.
Growing cold-matter and forced radiation contrasts through horizon crossing
. Details.