Vacation Notes

C1: Astrophysics

Author:
Fran Buist

Summer Vacation 2016

Contents
1 Liddle
An Introduction to Modern Cosmology 2
1.1 Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Newtonian Gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.1 The Friedmann equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.2 The fluid equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.3 The acceleration equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3 Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3.1 Flat geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3.2 Spherical geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3.3 Hyperbolic geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4 Simple Cosmological Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4.1 Hubble’s law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4.2 Expansion and Redshift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.3 Solving the equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.4 Particle Number Densities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4.5 Including Curvature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2 Content Section 12
2.1 Subsection 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.1.1 Subsubsection 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.1.2 Subsubsection 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1.3 Subsubsection 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3 Conclusion 15

1
1 Liddle
An Introduction to Modern Cosmology
1.1 Observations
1. Visible light

(a) Stars - Visible light from nuclear fusion within stars, e.g the Sun
(b) Galaxies - For example, the Milky way contains about 1011 stars, rang-
ing in size from one tenth of a solar mass to around ten solar masses.
We are located about 8 kpc from the centre of the disk. Our Galaxy is
surrounded by globular clusters of stars each containing a million or so
stars.
In general we can consider a distant galaxy as a point like object emit-
ting light.
(c) Large Scale Smoothness - On scales of hundreds of megaparsecs or
more the Universe appears smooth. This smoothness of the universe is
a key principle of modern cosmology.

2. Other wavebands

(a) Microwaves - Hugely important. The cosmic microwave background

follows the spectrum of a black-body at about 3 Kelvin today. The
temperature across the sky is very nearly uniform which provides key
information about the early evolution of the Universe.
(b) Radio Waves - Used to produce high-resolution maps of distant galax-
ies.
(c) Infrared - Very useful for spotting young galaxies with stars in early
stages of their formation. Infrared is also particularly good for look-
ing through the dust in our own galaxy that often gets in the way of
observations at other wavelengths.
(d) X-rays - In between galaxies in a cluster is gas so hot that it emits X-
rays (temperatures in the region of 107 K). This gas is remnant material
from galaxy formation.

2
3. Homogeneity and Isotropy

• Homogeneity is the statement that the Universe looks the same at

each point.
• Isotropy is the statement that the Universe looks the same in all di-
rections

One does not automatically imply the other, but if we enforce that the
Universe is isotropic at every point, that does also enforce homogeneity. In
reality, since the cosmological principle of an entirely smooth universe is not
exact, the Universe is not entirely homogeneous and isotropic. However, it
is a reasonable approximation that makes calculations a whole lot easier!

4. The Expansion of the Universe

One of the most important pieces of observational evidence in cosmology is
that the Universe if expanding. Everything is moving away from us, and
more distant objects are moving away faster! We measure these velocities
by measuring the redshift of an object, defined by
λobs − λem v
z= =
λobs c
valid for v  c only.
Hubble realised that the velocity at which an object moves away from us
is proportional to the distance of that object from us:

~v = H0~r

which is known as Hubble’s law.

Since everything is flying away from everything else we conclude that
everything was once much closer together. This leads us to the idea of an
initial explosion which we like to call the Big Bang, or often the Hot Big
Bang for reasons we will get to later.

5. Particles in the Universe

The whole Universe is made up of fundamental particles, so their properties
effect the behaviour of everything. It is useful to see if a particle is moving

3
 relativistically or not, so by expanding the energy-momentum invariant from
Special Relativity we come to
1 p2
Etotal ≈ mc2 + .
2m
If the momentum is such that the second term dominates the particle must be
travelling at close to the speed of light, so must be considered relativistically!
We can now look at some types of fundamental particles:

Baryons
In the present universe Baryons are typically moving non-relativistically,
with typical mass energies of around 938 MeV, since the only stable
baryons are protons and neutrons.
Radiation
Elecrtomagnetic radiation is made up of photons (indicated by the sym-
bol γ ) which propagate at the speed of light and have zero rest mass.
High energy photons can ionize atoms, scatter off free electrons and
have many other effects on other particles.

6. Thermal distributions and the black-body spectrum

Particles that freely interact with one another can be described by equilibrium
thermodynamics. If we look at the case of photons, which are bosons, we see
that radiation can be described by a black-body spectrum.

Figure 1: The energy density of the Cosmic Microwave Background, which

demonstrates the shape of a black-body spectrum

4
 In this spectrum the occupation number per mode N is given by the Planck
function
1
N = .
exp(hf /kB T ) − 1

From this we can find the energy density 

8πh f 3 df
(f ) df = ,
c3 exp(hf /kB T ) − 1

which will give the energy distribution shown in figure 1.

1.2 Newtonian Gravity

Newtonian Gravity keeps it simple: all matter attracts. The force exerted by an
object of mass M on one of mass m is given by the “famous” reationship
GM m
F = ,
r2
which is, of course, an inverse square law. We can use this as we begin to derive
the Friedmann equation.

1.2.1 The Friedmann equation

To find the Friedmann equation we compute the gravitational potential energy

and kinetic energy of a test particle and then make use of conservation of energy.
So, we consider an observer in an expanding medium of mass density ρ; a particle
of mass m at distance r away feels a force from all the material at a smaller radii,
which has mass M = 4πρr3 /3. Therefore we have a force

4πGρrm
F =
3
and gravitational potential energy

4πGρr2 m
V =− .
3
1
To use energy conservation we now find the kinetic energy T = 2
mṙ2 and use
U = T + V to give us

5
 1 4
U = mṙ2 − πGρr2 m. (1)
2 3
The next step is to realise that, since the Universe is homogeneous, we may
change to comoving coordinates, i.e. coordinates which are carried along with the
expansion of the Universe. For uniform expansion we may write this transforma-
tions as
~r = a(t)~x,
where a(t) is the scale factor of the Universe.
Plugging this into equation (1) we find
1 4π
U = mȧ2 x2 − Gρa2 x2 m.
2 3
Multipling this by 2/ma2 x2 and rearranging gives us
 2
ȧ 8πG kc2
= ρ− 2 . (2)
a 3 a
2 2
where kc = −2U/mx . This is the Friedmann equation.

Faster than light? A note:

It is worth mentioning here that although it can appear that distant galaxies are
receding faster than the speed of light, since the space between the galaxies is
expanding no signal could be sent between them, there is, in reality, no violation
of causality!

1.2.2 The fluid equation

In order to use the Friedmann equation we need to know the density ρ as a funtion
of time of material in the Universe. We can use the fluid equation, derived below,
which relates pressure and density.
We start from the first law of thermodynamics

dE + p dV = T dS (3)

which we apply to an expanding volume V with comoving radius 1 and physical

radius a. Therefore, using E = mc2 the energy is
4π 3 2
E= a ρc
3
6
which leads us to
dE da 4π 3 dρ 2
= 4πa2 ρc2 + a c.
dt dt 3 dt
Putting this, and the rate of change of volume
dV da
= 4πa2 ,
dt dt
into equation 3, assuming dS = 0, and rearranging, gives
ȧ p
 
ρ̇ + 3 ρ + 2 = 0. (4)
a c
This is the fluid equation. We still need the pressure in order to solve for ρ,
but we can generally specify an equation of state, so that p ≡ p(ρ). With this,
the Friedmann and fluid equations are enough to describe the evolution of the
universe!

1.2.3 The acceleration equation

We can also use the Friedmann and fluid equations to derive a third equation
which gives the acceleration of the scale factor. First, differentiate equation (2)
with respect to time to get

ȧ aä − ȧ2 8πG kc2 ȧ

2 = ρ̇ + 2 .
a a2 3 a3
Then substitute in ρ̇ from equation (4) and cancel the factor of 2ȧ/a to get
 2
ä ȧ p kc2
 
− = −4πG ρ + 2 + 2 .
a a c a
Finally, by using equation (2) once more, we reach the acceleration equation
ä 4πG 3p
 
=− ρ+ 2 .
a 3 c

1.3 Geometry
It’s time to look more closely at the constant k which appears in the Freidmann
equation! We have already chosen to look at a model for the universe which is
both homogeneous and isotropic, and the simplest geometry which satisfies these
conditions is a flat geometry, but it is not the only possibility!

7
1.3.1 Flat geometry

Things are lovely and simple in a geometrically flat worlds where we can use
euclidian geometry as normal. If flat geometry does apply to our universe then
the universe must be infinite so that homogeneity is not violated at the edge! In
a flat geometry k = 0.

1.3.2 Spherical geometry

This is the simplest non-euclidean geometry, the surface of a sphere, much like the
earth! (Worth remembering, here, that we are talking about a 3-dimensional space,
which we are modelling as a 2-dimensional surface.) A geometrically spherical
universe has a finite size but no boundary, and has a positive value for k. This
scenario is called a closed universe

1.3.3 Hyperbolic geometry

This geometry is normally represented by a saddle-like surface and, like the flat
case, must be infinite. In this geometry k < 0 and we call this an open universe.

1.4 Simple Cosmological Models

1.4.1 Hubble’s law

We have encountered Hubble’s law above, and the Friedmann equation lets us see
why it is that, as Hubble discovered, recession velocity is proportional to distance:

|~r˙ | ȧ
~v = ~r = ~r
|~r| a

where we have used ~r = a~x. From this we can see that the Hubble parameter
H = ȧ/a, and the value of this parameter today we label H0 . This allows us to
rewrite the Friedmann equation as
8πG k
H2 = ρ − 2.
3 a

8
1.4.2 Expansion and Redshift

We can relate the redshift of spectal lines to the scale factor as well! We start by
assuming light is transferred between two objects that are separated by a small
distance dr, therefore their relative velocity dv is
ȧ
dv = H dr = dr.
a
The Doppler law gives us that dλ ≡ λr − λe so
dλ dv
= ,
λe c
and by using the fact that light travel time dt = dv/c we reach
dλ ȧ dr ȧ da
= = dt = .
λe a c a a
By integrating this we find that ln λ = ln a + constant, i.e. λ is proportional to
the scale factor. This tells us that if, for example, the wavelength has doubled,
the Universe must have been half its present size when the light was emitted!
a(tr )
1+z =
a(te )

1.4.3 Solving the equations

We now solve the Friedmann and fluid equations for 2 possible situations, a Uni-
verse filled with matter and a Universe filled with radiation. We look at both
scenarios in the case of a flat Universe.

Matter
Cosmologists use the term ‘matter’ to refer to non-relativistic material that
exerts negligible pressure, such that we can assume p = 0. This means we
can write the fluid equation as follows:
ȧ 1 d d
ρ̇ + 3 ρ = 0 =⇒ 3 (ρa3 ) = 0 =⇒ (ρa3 ) = 0.
a a dt dt
Integrating this tells us that
1 ρ0
ρ∝ , so we can write ρ =
a3 a3
9
 where ρ0 is the density today. Substituting for ρ in the Friedmann equation
with k = 0 gives us
8πGρ0 1
ȧ2 = .
3 a
The best way to solve this is probably to know roughly what you’re looking
for (a power law probably) and substitute in this educated guess. Substitut-
ing in a ∝ tq and working through shows that the only possible solution is
a ∝ t2/3 . Hooray! We’ve solved it!

ρ0 t20
2/3
t ρ0

a(t) = ; ρ(t) = =
t0 a3 t2
ȧ 2
H≡ =
a 3t
Radiation
Particles moving at the speed of light have kinetic energy which leads to a
pressure force that can be shown to be p = ρc/3. As such the fluid equation
can be written
ȧ
ρ̇ + 4 ρ = 0.
a
Using the same trick as above we get to
1
ρ∝
a4
so we can easily reach

ρ0 t20
1/2
t ρ0

a(t) = ; ρ(t) = =
t0 a4 t2

1.4.4 Particle Number Densities

The number density n is the number of particles in a given volume, so is related to

the energy by  = n × E. Since in general particle number is conserved this an be
a really useful quantity. If particle interactions are not negligible, for example if
electrons and positrons can annihilate, then particle number is not conserved, but
in a state of thermal equilibrium we expect any interactions to occur at the same
rate going both forward and backward. This means that in thermal equilibrium,
even with a highly interacting state, particle number is conserved.

10
So, we expect particle number to be conserved, so the only thing that does change
is the number density, which decreases as the volume gets bigger. As such, we
have
1
n ∝ 3.
a
Good News! This matches what we expect from looking at our previous results
for a matter dominated universe.

1.4.5 Including Curvature

Now we put k back into our equations, as a non-zero constant.

First we look to see if it is possible for the expansion of the universe to stop,
which corresponds to H = 0. By looking at the Friedmann equation we see that
for this to be possible we need
k 8πG
2
= ρ
a 3
which rules out this possibility for k < 0. As such, we may say that an open
universe expands forever, and at late times the Friedmann equation is dominated
by the curvature, becoming
 2
ȧ k
= − 2.
a a
This leads to a ∝ t at late times.
For k positive it is possible for the expansion of the universe to stop, and, in fact,
this is inevitable. In this scenario expansion will stop and then the Universe will
recollapse, this is sometimes called the ‘Big Crunch’.
The behaviours of the Universe for different values of k are shown in figure 2.

11
 Figure 2: Three possible evolutions for the Universe, for different values of the
curvature constant k

2 Content Section
Fusce mauris. Vestibulum luctus nibh at lectus. Sed bibendum, nulla a fau-
cibus semper, leo velit ultricies tellus, ac venenatis arcu wisi vel nisl. Vestibu-
lum diam. Aliquam pellentesque, augue quis sagittis posuere, turpis lacus congue
quam, in hendrerit risus eros eget felis. Maecenas eget erat in sapien mattis port-
titor. Vestibulum porttitor. Nulla facilisi. Sed a turpis eu lacus commodo facilisis.
Morbi fringilla, wisi in dignissim interdum, justo lectus sagittis dui, et vehicula
libero dui cursus dui. Mauris tempor ligula sed lacus. Duis cursus enim ut augue.
Cras ac magna. Cras nulla. Nulla egestas. Curabitur a leo. Quisque egestas wisi
eget nunc. Nam feugiat lacus vel est. Curabitur consectetuer.

2.1 Subsection 1
2.1.1 Subsubsection 1

Suspendisse vel felis. Ut lorem lorem, interdum eu, tincidunt sit amet, laoreet
vitae, arcu. Aenean faucibus pede eu ante. Praesent enim elit, rutrum at, molestie
non, nonummy vel, nisl. Ut lectus eros, malesuada sit amet, fermentum eu, sodales

12
cursus, magna. Donec eu purus. Quisque vehicula, urna sed ultricies auctor, pede
lorem egestas dui, et convallis elit erat sed nulla. Donec luctus. Curabitur et nunc.
Aliquam dolor odio, commodo pretium, ultricies non, pharetra in, velit. Integer
arcu est, nonummy in, fermentum faucibus, egestas vel, odio.

2.1.2 Subsubsection 2

Suspendisse vel felis. Ut lorem lorem, interdum eu, tincidunt sit amet, laoreet
vitae, arcu. Aenean faucibus pede eu ante. Praesent enim elit, rutrum at, molestie
non, nonummy vel, nisl. Ut lectus eros, malesuada sit amet, fermentum eu, sodales
cursus, magna. Donec eu purus. Quisque vehicula, urna sed ultricies auctor, pede
lorem egestas dui, et convallis elit erat sed nulla. Donec luctus. Curabitur et nunc.
Aliquam dolor odio, commodo pretium, ultricies non, pharetra in, velit. Integer
arcu est, nonummy in, fermentum faucibus, egestas vel, odio.
Sed commodo posuere pede. Mauris ut est.
Ut quis purus. Sed ac odio. Sed vehicula hen-
drerit sem. Duis non odio. Morbi ut dui. Sed
accumsan risus eget odio. In hac habitasse
platea dictumst. Pellentesque non elit. Fusce
sed justo eu urna porta tincidunt. Mauris fe-
lis odio, sollicitudin sed, volutpat a, ornare ac,
erat. Morbi quis dolor. Donec pellentesque,
erat ac sagittis semper, nunc dui lobortis pu-
rus, quis congue purus metus ultricies tellus.
Figure 3: Fish Proin et quam. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad
litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos
hymenaeos. Praesent sapien turpis, fermentum vel, eleifend faucibus, vehicula eu,
lacus.
Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac
turpis egestas. Donec odio elit, dictum in, hendrerit sit amet, egestas sed, leo.
Praesent feugiat sapien aliquet odio. Integer vitae justo. Aliquam vestibulum
fringilla lorem. Sed neque lectus, consectetuer at, consectetuer sed, eleifend ac,
lectus. Nulla facilisi. Pellentesque eget lectus. Proin eu metus. Sed porttitor. In
hac habitasse platea dictumst. Suspendisse eu lectus. Ut mi mi, lacinia sit amet,

13
placerat et, mollis vitae, dui. Sed ante tellus, tristique ut, iaculis eu, malesuada
ac, dui. Mauris nibh leo, facilisis non, adipiscing quis, ultrices a, dui.

2.1.3 Subsubsection 3

First
Morbi luctus, wisi viverra faucibus pretium, nibh est placerat odio, nec com-
modo wisi enim eget quam. Quisque libero justo, consectetuer a, feugiat
vitae, porttitor eu, libero. Suspendisse sed mauris vitae elit sollicitudin male-
suada. Maecenas ultricies eros sit amet ante. Ut venenatis velit. Maecenas
sed mi eget dui varius euismod. Phasellus aliquet volutpat odio. Vestibulum
ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae;
Pellentesque sit amet pede ac sem eleifend consectetuer. Nullam elemen-
tum, urna vel imperdiet sodales, elit ipsum pharetra ligula, ac pretium ante
justo a nulla. Curabitur tristique arcu eu metus. Vestibulum lectus. Proin
mauris. Proin eu nunc eu urna hendrerit faucibus. Aliquam auctor, pede
consequat laoreet varius, eros tellus scelerisque quam, pellentesque hendrerit
ipsum dolor sed augue. Nulla nec lacus.

Second
Suspendisse vitae elit. Aliquam arcu neque, ornare in, ullamcorper quis,
commodo eu, libero. Fusce sagittis erat at erat tristique mollis. Maecenas
sapien libero, molestie et, lobortis in, sodales eget, dui. Morbi ultrices rutrum
lorem. Nam elementum ullamcorper leo. Morbi dui. Aliquam sagittis. Nunc
placerat. Pellentesque tristique sodales est. Maecenas imperdiet lacinia velit.
Cras non urna. Morbi eros pede, suscipit ac, varius vel, egestas non, eros.
Praesent malesuada, diam id pretium elementum, eros sem dictum tortor,
vel consectetuer odio sem sed wisi.

Third
Sed feugiat. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes,
nascetur ridiculus mus. Ut pellentesque augue sed urna. Vestibulum diam
eros, fringilla et, consectetuer eu, nonummy id, sapien. Nullam at lectus.
In sagittis ultrices mauris. Curabitur malesuada erat sit amet massa. Fusce
blandit. Aliquam erat volutpat. Aliquam euismod. Aenean vel lectus. Nunc
imperdiet justo nec dolor.

14
3 Conclusion
Etiam euismod. Fusce facilisis lacinia dui. Suspendisse potenti. In mi erat, cursus
id, nonummy sed, ullamcorper eget, sapien. Praesent pretium, magna in eleifend
egestas, pede pede pretium lorem, quis consectetuer tortor sapien facilisis magna.
Mauris quis magna varius nulla scelerisque imperdiet. Aliquam non quam. Ali-
quam porttitor quam a lacus. Praesent vel arcu ut tortor cursus volutpat. In vitae
pede quis diam bibendum placerat. Fusce elementum convallis neque. Sed dolor
orci, scelerisque ac, dapibus nec, ultricies ut, mi. Duis nec dui quis leo sagittis
commodo.
Aliquam lectus. Vivamus leo. Quisque ornare tellus ullamcorper nulla. Mauris
porttitor pharetra tortor. Sed fringilla justo sed mauris. Mauris tellus. Sed non
leo. Nullam elementum, magna in cursus sodales, augue est scelerisque sapien,
venenatis congue nulla arcu et pede. Ut suscipit enim vel sapien. Donec congue.
Maecenas urna mi, suscipit in, placerat ut, vestibulum ut, massa. Fusce ultrices
nulla et nisl.

References
[Figueredo and Wolf, 2009] Figueredo, A. J. and Wolf, P. S. A. (2009). Assortative
pairing and life history strategy - a cross-cultural study. Human Nature,
20:317–330.

15