Global gravitational instability of FLRW backgrounds - interpreting the dark sectors

The standard model of cosmology is based on homogeneous-isotropic solutions of Einstein's equations. These solutions are known to be gravitationally unstable to local inhomogeneous perturbations, commonly described as evolving on a background given by the same solutions. In this picture, the FLRW backgrounds are taken to describe the average over inhomogeneous perturbations for all times. We study in the present article the (in)stability of FLRW dust backgrounds within a class of averaged inhomogeneous cosmologies. We examine the phase portraits of the latter, discuss their fixed points and orbital structure and provide detailed illustrations. We show that FLRW cosmologies are unstable in some relevant cases: averaged models are driven away from them through structure formation and accelerated expansion. We find support for the proposal that the dark components of the FLRW framework may be associated to these instability sectors. Our conclusion is that FLRW cosmologies have to be considered critically as for their role to serve as reliable models for the physical background.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, 1 table. Matches published version in CQ

Relativistic cosmological perturbation scheme on a general background: scalar perturbations for irrotational dust

In standard perturbation approaches and N-body simulations, inhomogeneities are described to evolve on a predefined background cosmology, commonly taken as the homogeneous-isotropic solutions of Einstein's field equations (Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) cosmologies). In order to make physical sense, this background cosmology must provide a reasonable description of the effective, i.e. spatially averaged, evolution of structure inhomogeneities also in the nonlinear regime. Guided by the insights that (i) the average over an inhomogeneous distribution of matter and geometry is in general not given by a homogeneous solution of general relativity, and that (ii) the class of FLRW cosmologies is not only locally but also globally gravitationally unstable in relevant cases, we here develop a perturbation approach that describes the evolution of inhomogeneities on a general background being defined by the spatially averaged evolution equations. This physical background interacts with the formation of structures. We derive and discuss the resulting perturbation scheme for the matter model `irrotational dust' in the Lagrangian picture, restricting our attention to scalar perturbations.Comment: 18 pages. Matches published version in CQ

Lagrangian theory of structure formation in relativistic cosmology I: Lagrangian framework and definition of a nonperturbative approximation

In this first paper we present a Lagrangian framework for the description of structure formation in general relativity, restricting attention to irrotational dust matter. As an application we present a self-contained derivation of a general-relativistic analogue of Zel'dovich's approximation for the description of structure formation in cosmology, and compare it with previous suggestions in the literature. This approximation is then investigated: paraphrasing the derivation in the Newtonian framework we provide general-relativistic analogues of the basic system of equations for a single dynamical field variable and recall the first-order perturbation solution of these equations. We then define a general-relativistic analogue of Zel'dovich's approximation and investigate its implications by functionally evaluating relevant variables, and we address the singularity problem. We so obtain a possibly powerful model that, although constructed through extrapolation of a perturbative solution, can be used to put into practice nonperturbatively, e.g. problems of structure formation, backreaction problems, nonlinear properties of gravitational radiation, and light-propagation in realistic inhomogeneous universe models. With this model we also provide the key-building blocks for initializing a fully relativistic numerical simulation.Comment: 21 pages, content matches published version in PRD, discussion on singularities added, some formulas added, some rewritten and some correcte

On the relativistic mass function and averaging in cosmology

The general relativistic description of cosmological structure formation is an important challenge from both the theoretical and the numerical point of views. In this paper we present a brief prescription for a general relativistic treatment of structure formation and a resulting mass function on galaxy cluster scales in a highly generic scenario. To obtain this we use an exact scalar averaging scheme together with the relativistic generalization of Zel'dovich's approximation (RZA) that serves as a closure condition for the averaged equations.Comment: Contribution to the proceedings of MG1

A cosmic equation of state for the inhomogeneous Universe: can a global far-from-equilibrium state explain Dark Energy?

A system of effective Einstein equations for spatially averaged scalar variables of inhomogeneous cosmological models can be solved by providing a `cosmic equation of state'. Recent efforts to explain Dark Energy focus on `backreaction effects' of inhomogeneities on the effective evolution of cosmological parameters in our Hubble volume, avoiding a cosmological constant in the equation of state. In this Letter it is argued that, if kinematical backreaction effects are indeed of the order of the averaged density (or larger as needed for an accelerating domain of the Universe), then the state of our regional Hubble volume would have to be in the vicinity of a far-from-equilibrium state that balances kinematical backreaction and average density. This property, if interpreted globally, is shared by a stationary cosmos with effective equation of state $p_{\rm eff} = -1/3 \rho_{\rm eff}$. It is concluded that a confirmed explanation of Dark Energy by kinematical backreaction may imply a paradigmatic change of cosmology.Comment: 7 pages, matches published version in Class. Quant. Gra

How is the local-scale gravitational instability influenced by the surrounding large-scale structure formation?

We develop the formalism to investigate the relation between the evolution of the large-scale (quasi) linear structure and that of the small-scale nonlinear structure in Newtonian cosmology within the Lagrangian framework. In doing so, we first derive the standard Friedmann expansion law using the averaging procedure over the present horizon scale. Then the large-scale (quasi) linear flow is defined by averaging the full trajectory field over a large-scale domain, but much smaller than the horizon scale. The rest of the full trajectory field is supposed to describe small-scale nonlinear dynamics. We obtain the evolution equations for the large-scale and small-scale parts of the trajectory field. These are coupled to each other in most general situations. It is shown that if the shear deformation of fluid elements is ignored in the averaged large-scale dynamics, the small-scale dynamics is described by Newtonian dynamics in an effective Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) background with a local scale factor. The local scale factor is defined by the sum of the global scale factor and the expansion deformation of the averaged large-scale displacement field. This means that the evolution of small-scale fluctuations is influenced by the surrounding large-scale structure through the modification of FRW scale factor. The effect might play an important role in the structure formation scenario. Furthermore, it is argued that the so-called {\it optimized} or {\it truncated} Lagrangian perturbation theory is a good approximation in investigating the large-scale structure formation up to the quasi nonlinear regime, even when the small-scale fluctuations are in the non-linear regime.Comment: 15pages, Accepted for publication in Gravitation and General Relativit

Performance of the optimized Post-Zel'dovich approximation for CDM models in arbitrary FLRW cosmologies

We investigate the performance of the optimized Post-Zel'dovich approximation in three cold dark matter cosmologies. We consider two flat models with $\Omega_0=1$ (SCDM) and with $\Omega_0=0.3$ ($\Lambda$CDM) and an open model with $\Omega_0=0.3$ (OCDM). We find that the optimization scheme proposed by Wei{\ss}, Gottl\"ober & Buchert (1996), in which the performance of the Lagrangian perturbation theory was optimized only for the Einstein-de Sitter cosmology, shows the excellent performances not only for SCDM model but also for both OCDM and $\Lambda$CDM models. This universality of the excellent performance of the optimized Post-Zel'dovich approximation is explained by the fact that a relation between the Post-Zel'dovich order's growth factor $E(a)$ and Zel'dovich order's one $D(a)$, $E(a)/D^2(a)$, is insensitive to the background cosmologies.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, LaTex using aaspp4.sty and epsf.sty, Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Dynamical Critical Phenomena and Large Scale Structure of the Universe: the Power Spectrum for Density Fluctuations

As is well known, structure formation in the Universe at times after decoupling can be described by hydrodynamic equations. These are shown here to be equivalent to a generalization of the stochastic Kardar--Parisi--Zhang equation with time-- dependent viscosity in epochs of dissipation. As a consequence of the Dynamical Critical Scaling induced by noise and fluctuations, these equations describe the fractal behavior (with a scale dependent fractal dimension) observed at the smaller scales for the galaxy--to--galaxy correlation function and $also$ the Harrison--Zel'dovich spectrum at decoupling. By a Renormalization Group calculation of the two--point correlation function between galaxies in the presence of (i) the expansion of the Universe and (ii) non--equilibrium, we can account, from first principles, for the main features of the observed shape of the power spectrum.Comment: 13 pages with 2 encapsulated PostScript figures included, gzipped tar forma