Friedmann effective potential for pressureless matter Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For pressureless matter normalized by in units , the Friedmann equation is
Allowed scale factors satisfy , and equality marks a turning point.
The cosmological perfect-fluid continuity equation and the constant barotropic equation of state give
On every interval where is monotone, separation of variables yields
Hence the constant-equation-of-state density scaling is
where is a constant. The same expression extends through a regular turning point by continuity.
For pressureless matter, and part (a) gives . With , the Friedmann equation becomes
or
This 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.