Astronomy 127

E. S. Phinney
Cosmology and Galaxy formation 20 Apr 2007
TA office hours for this problem set
Adrienne Erickcek: Weds 5-6pm. Dan Grin: Thurs 5-7pm. If many students turn up,
the TAs may move to 124 Bridge (”Interaction Room”).
Readings:
Finish chapters 10 and 14 of Coles (skim Chapters 11, 12) Read chapter 9 of Dodelson.

Problem Set 4
Due in class in class Fri, 27 Apr 2007

Homework Problems:
1. In this problem we will estimate the temperature of free electron freeze-out and the relic free
electron fraction of the universe.
a) Notice that at the temperature at which hydrogen starts to recombine, helium is already
neutral. Thus the free-electron fraction xe− = xp = ne− /ntot , where ntot = np + nH is
the total proton density of the universe. Remember that the mass fraction of baryons
in protons is roughly Xp ≈ 0.75.
i) Assuming that all the hydrogen is in the ground state, write down the Saha equation
for xe− , and show that it can be put in the form

x2e− 1.9 × 106 Eb 3/2

 
= exp(−Eb /T ) = exp(36.0 + 3/2 ln(Eb /T ) − Eb /T ) ,
1 − xe− Xp ηb T

where ηb is the baryon-to-photon number ratio, and we are using energy units for
temperature in this equation. Recall that Eb = 13.6 eV is the binding energy of a
neutral hydrogen atom and me− = 511 keV is the electron mass.
ii) Verify that for our standard best current estimate cosmology, ηb = 6 × 10−10 .
iii) Solve the Saha equation above and graph on a log scale the free electron fraction
xe− as a function of temperature for 2500 < T < 5000 K, and find the temperature
at which xe− = 0.5
iv) How would your result for part (iii) differ if the universe had ηb = 1 instead of
ηb = 6 × 10−10 ?
v) For the range of temperatures considered in part (iii), were we justified in neglecting
the excited states of hydrogen, assuming they are in thermal equilibrium? How
would the Saha equation be modified if we included them?
b) Using the equation for the evolution of the ionization fraction derived in class and the
emailed lecture notes,

dxe− n
2
o
= (1 − xe− ) β − xe− ntot hσvirec (1)
dt
1
 me T 3/2 −Eb /T
 
β = hσvirec e ,
2π
 1/2  
α2 Eb Eb
hσvirec ' 9.78 2 ln ,
me− T T

dx
and the definition of ‘freeze-out’ dte− = H(t),
i) Write down the condition for freeze-out of the ionization fraction.
ii) Using your favorite numerical solution package or an approximation of your choosing,
solve for the freeze-out temperature Tf of the ionization fraction of the universe. You
may assume (somewhat inaccurately), that recombination occurs sufficiently long
after matter-radiation equality so that when you evaluate the Hubble parameter,
you may work in the limit that the universe is matter dominated. α is the fine-
structure constant. Note that we are in natural units here, so our units are such
that h̄ = c = k = 1, and [M ] = [L]−1 , where M denotes mass and L denotes length.
Remember that before freeze-out you are entitled to use the expression derived in
part a) for the free-electron fraction xe− .
c) Estimate the relic free-electron fraction of the universe
i) by plugging the freeze-out temperature Tf derived in part b) back into your expres-
sion for the free-electron fraction derived in part a).
ii) by integrating Eq. (1) but working in the vastly simplifying limit that xe−  1,
solve analytically for the free-electron fraction xe− today. (Hint: You may find
the change of variables x ≡ Eb /T very helpful. The Friedmann equation may
also be written − T1 dT
dt = H.) Compare this value to the one you derived in part c(i),
and to the actual accurate value, xe− (final) = 2 × 10−4 . *
2. [We will reuse the results of this problem later when discussing gravitational collapse of bound
structures in the universe, its use being justified by Birkhoff’s theorem.] The Friedmann
equation is
 2
ȧ 8πG k
= ρ− 2 .
a 3 a

Consider a closed (k = 1) universe containing only cold matter, so ρ = ρ0 /a3 , with ρ0 a

constant.
* Your simple estimate is not very good, because the expression for β in Eq (1) assumes
that the photoionization is due to photons in a black body distribution, and that excited
states can be neglected. But in fact recombination to the ground state liberates an ionizing
photon, which immediately reionizes another atom, and recombination via the 2P state a
Lyman-alpha photon which excites another atom to n = 2 (i.e. the photon spectrum is
not a black-body, so actual recombinations to the ground state can proceed only via the
long-lived 2S state (decays via 2-photon emission). So a better approximation is to use the
recombination coefficient of the 2S state, replace Eb /T in the Saha equation by Eb /(4T ),
and include the kinetics of the 2S decay in the rate equations. You aren’t expected to do
any of this for this problem, however.

2
 a) In both the metric and the Friedmann equation, replace the time coordinate by conformal
time η = 0t dt/a(t). Thus show that the solution to the Friedmann equation which has
R

a(0) = 0 at t = 0 is

4πGρ0 4πGρ0
a(η) = (1 − cos η) ; t(η) = (η − sin η) .
3 3

b) Sketch a and t as functions of η, and a as a function of t. Describe qualitatively the

behaviour of this universe.
c) Verify that for η  1, a(t) has the same functional form as for a flat universe. Why
must this be so?
d) Show that the whole history of this universe, from big bang to final crunch, is determined
by 0 < η < 2π, 0 < χ < π, and the usual polar coordinates for the remaining θ and φ
angles. Make a space-time diagram in the χ − η plane, draw radial photon trajectories,
and show that during the collapse phase, an observer sees two images of every galaxy.
Use your diagram to explain how those two images arise.

3. The equation for the growth of density perturbations δ ≡ δρ/ρ in an expanding universe, in
comoving coordinates, was derived in class:

∂ 2δ ȧ ∂δ c2s 2
+ 2 = ∇ δ + 4πGρδ (2)
∂t2 a ∂t a2

(note that the time derivatives are at fixed comoving positions, and the Laplacian is with
respect to comoving coordinates; ρ is the unperturbed density).
Consider a flat universe filled with two components: (1) uniform radiation, and (2)
nonuniform cold dark matter (cs = 0) which does not interact with the radiation except via
the Hubble expansion:
 2  
ȧ 4π aeq 3  aeq 4
= Gρeq +
a 3 a a

a) Let y = ρm /ρr = a/aeq , and eliminate the time derivatives in favor of y derivatives in
equation (2).
b) Recall that ä/a = −4π/3G(ρ + 3p/c2 ), and express this in terms of y and ȧ/a.
c) Since only the cold dark matter is participating in the perturbations, only the matter
density enters in the 4πGρ on the right-hand side of Eq. (2). Show that therefore
4πGρm = (3/2)(ȧ/a)2 y/(1 + y).
d) Combine parts (a-c) to arrive at the evolution equation for the dark matter perturbation:

∂ 2δ 3 ∂δ 3
y(1 + y) 2
+ (1 + y) = δ (3)
∂y 2 ∂y 2

e) Show that one solution of Eq. (3) is δ1 (y) = 1 + (3/2)y.

3
 f) By the method of variation of parameters (i.e. seek a solution of the form δ2 (y) =
δ1 (y)v(y)), find the second solution to Eq. (3):

dy 0
Z y
3
δ2 (y) = (1 + y) p
2 (1 + 3y 0 /2)2 y 0 1 + y 0
√ 
p 3 1+y−1
= 3 1 + y + (1 + y) ln √
2 1+y+1

g) The general solution is then of the form δ(y) = c1 δ1 (y) + c2 δ2 (y). Show that during
the radiation-dominated epoch, δ1 is frozen, while δ2 grows logarithmically, and during
the matter-dominated epoch, δ1 grows linearly with y (and hence linearly with redshift),
while δ2 decays as y −3/2 .
4. More recently, the universe has been composed of perturbed cold dark matter, plus a smooth
cosmological constant. Repeat a calculation similar to that of problem 3, but now setting
 2   
ȧ 4π ac 3
= Gρc +1
a 3 a

where ac = (Ωm /(1−Ωm ))1/3 ao is the expansion factor of the universe when the cosmological
constant has equal energy density to the cold matter. As before, let y = a/ac , note that
ρm /ρΛ = y −3 , and pΛ = −ρΛ c3 .
a) Thus show that the perturbation equation (2) becomes

∂ 2δ 3 ∂δ 3
(1 + y 3 )y 2 + y(1 + 2y 3 ) = δ (4)
∂y 2 2 ∂y 2
p
b) Show that a solution to this equation is δ1 (y) = 1 + y −3 . This mode decays while
y  1 (matter-dominated), and becomes constant for large y (cosmological-constant
dominated).
c) Show that the other mode, which grows δ2 ∝ y during the matter-dominated epoch is
3/2
y0
q Z y
δ2 (y) = 1 + y −3 dy 0
1 + y 03

d) Show that δ2 (y → ∞) = 0.575 during the cosmological-constant dominated epoch. Will

the density contrast of giant voids and super-clusters in our Universe continue to increase
significantly in the future?