Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2018 / iii / Paper 310 / 1 / b / iv / iv / Solution

If the initial density is decreased by $ϵ<0$ at the same radius, the string-only Friedmann equation would requirewhich has no real solution. It is not an allowed initial perturbation of a closed string-only universe at fixed curvature normalization. In particular, it should not be interpreted as an oscillating or automatically recollapsing solution.

Likewise, increasing the density while keeping both $a$ and $\dot{a}=0$ fixed violates the constraint; the admissible velocity is the one obtained above. The homogeneous stability of a static cosmic-string universe must always be assessed using both the acceleration equation and the Friedmann constraint. Allowing extra components or changing the spatial curvature would define a different perturbation problem.