Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2008 / ii / Paper 3 / 10E / Solution

Write the photon energy density as $ϵ=a_R{T}^4$, where $a_R=4\sigma /c$ by the Stefan–Boltzmann law. The photon gas has pressure $P=ϵ/3$ and zero photon chemical potential. The first law of thermodynamics therefore givesDividing by $T$ and integrating gives the entropy density of a photon gas:The integration constant is fixed to zero at zero temperature, consistently with the third law of thermodynamics.

The inequality $\Gamma \gg H$ says interactions act much faster than the expansion time, maintaining local thermal equilibrium. For adiabatic reversible expansion with no additional source of entropy, cosmological entropy conservation fixes the entropy in a comoving volume. Since that volume scales as $a^3$, and the relativistic degrees of freedom are fixed here, $T^3{a}^3$ is constant. ThusDuring radiation domination, the Friedmann equation gives $H^2\propto \rho \propto T^4$, and hence $\boxed{H\propto T^2}$. Fast interactions alone would not exclude an additional entropy-producing process; changing relativistic species likewise changes the simple temperature scaling.