Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2009 / iii / Paper 55 / 1 / b

A fixed comoving volume has physical volume proportional to $a^3$. The stretched domain walls within it have area proportional to $a^2$, and their energy per physical area is constant. The cosmological domain wall network therefore has $\rho \propto a^{-1}$, equivalently a barotropic equation of state with $w=-2/3$.

The flat Friedmann equation becomes ${\dot{a}}^2=Ca$ for a positive constant $C$. On the expanding branch, integration gives $a=(C/4)(t-t_B{)}^2$. Measuring age from the initial time $t_B=0$, $H=\dot{a}/a=2/t$. Thus

The scale factor of the cosmological domain wall network is $a\propto t^2$, so $\ddot{a}>0$: the expansion accelerates. Equivalently the Friedmann acceleration equation has $\rho +3P=\rho (1+3w)=-\rho <0$ for $w=-2/3$.

Set $a(t)=a_0(t/t_0{)}^2$. The remaining future conformal time isA light ray sent to a comoving reflector at separation $\chi$ and immediately returned consumes $2\chi$ of conformal time. The cosmological round-trip communication horizon therefore has supremum physical distanceFinite-time reception requires $d_0<d_{\max }$. Indeed the total travel equation is $2d_0/a_0=(t_0/a_0)(1-t_0/t_r)$, giving $t_r=t_0/(1-2d_0/t_0)$. At the limiting distance the return time tends to infinity. This round-trip radius is half the current physical cosmological event horizon radius.