General relativistic effects on non-linear power spectra

Abstract

Non-linear nature of Einstein equation introduces genuine relativistic higher order corrections to the usual Newtonian fluid equations describing the evolution of cosmological perturbations. We study the effect of such novel non-linearities on the next-to-leading order matter and velocity power spectra for the case of pressureless, irrotational fluid in a flat Friedmann background. We find that pure general relativistic corrections are negligibly small over all scales. Our result guarantees that, in the current paradigm of standard cosmology, one can safely use Newtonian cosmology even in non-linear regimes.