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Concept
Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker metric
Summary
The Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker metric (FLRW; ˈfriːdmən_ləˈmɛtrə...) is a metric based on the exact solution of the Einstein field equations of general relativity. The metric describes a homogeneous, isotropic, expanding (or otherwise, contracting) universe that is path-connected, but not necessarily simply connected. The general form of the metric follows from the geometric properties of homogeneity and isotropy; Einstein's field equations are only needed to derive the scale factor of the universe as a function of time. Depending on geographical or historical preferences, the set of the four scientists – Alexander Friedmann, Georges Lemaître, Howard P. Robertson and Arthur Geoffrey Walker – are variously grouped as Friedmann, Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW), Robertson–Walker (RW), or Friedmann–Lemaître (FL). This model is sometimes called the Standard Model of modern cosmology, although such a description is also associated with the further developed Lambda-CDM model. The FLRW model was developed independently by the named authors in the 1920s and 1930s.
The FLRW metric starts with the assumption of homogeneity and isotropy of space. It also assumes that the spatial component of the metric can be time-dependent. The generic metric which meets these conditions is
where ranges over a 3-dimensional space of uniform curvature, that is, elliptical space, Euclidean space, or hyperbolic space. It is normally written as a function of three spatial coordinates, but there are several conventions for doing so, detailed below. does not depend on t – all of the time dependence is in the function a(t), known as the "scale factor".
In reduced-circumference polar coordinates the spatial metric has the form
k is a constant representing the curvature of the space. There are two common unit conventions:
k may be taken to have units of length−2, in which case r has units of length and a(t) is unitless. k is then the Gaussian curvature of the space at the time when a(t) = 1.
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