Equivalence Principle in Cosmology

Abstract

We analyse the Einstein equivalence principle (EEP) for a Hubble observer in Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker spacetime. We show that the affine structure of light cone in the FLRW spacetime should be treated locally in terms of the optical metric which is not reduced to the Minkowski metric due to the non-uniform parametrization of the local equations of light propagation with the proper time of the observer's clock. The physical consequence of this difference is that the Doppler shift of radio waves measured locally, is affected by the Hubble expansion.