Friedmann effective potential for pressureless matter Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For pressureless matter normalized by in units , the Friedmann equation isAllowed scale factors satisfy , and equality marks a turning point.
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The cosmological perfect-fluid continuity equation and the constant barotropic equation of state giveOn every interval where is monotone, separation of variables yieldsHence the constant-equation-of-state density scaling iswhere is a constant. The same expression extends through a regular turning point by continuity.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ii Paper 2 37E b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
For pressureless matter, and part (a) gives . With , the Friedmann equation becomesorThis is the case of the Friedmann effective potential for pressureless matter. The potential rises monotonically from at to zero from below as .
For , intersects the potential at . An initially expanding closed matter-dominated Friedmann solution reaches this turning point and recollapses to a Big Crunch. For , gives expansion for all time with and . For , gives eternal expansion with in these units. Thus positive curvature recollapses, whereas zero and negative curvature expand forever.