Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2021 / ii / Paper 4 / 37C / b / i

Separate stress-energy conservation and the constant equation-of-state parameter $w$ give the constant-equation-of-state density scalingBecause $w<-1$, the phantom energy density grows with the scale factor, whereas the pressureless matter density decays as $a^{-3}$. Phantom energy therefore dominates at late times. With $\Lambda =0$, the Friedmann equation becomesIntegrating and absorbing the integration constant into the finite time $t^{\ast }$ givesThe exponent is negative, so $a(t)\to \infty$ as $t\to t^{\ast -}$. This is a Big Rip.