The Instability of the Critical Friedmann Spacetime at the Big Bang as an Alternative to Dark Energy

Abstract

We characterize the local instability of pressureless Friedmann spacetimes to radial perturbation at the Big Bang. The analysis is based on a formulation of the Einstein-Euler equations in self-similar variables $(t,\xi)$, with $\xi=r/t$, conceived to realize the critical ($k=0$) Friedmann spacetime as a stationary solution whose character as an unstable saddle rest point $SM$ is determined via an expansion of smooth solutions in even powers of $\xi$. The eigenvalues of $SM$ imply the $k\neq0$ Friedmann spacetimes are unstable solutions within the unstable manifold of $SM$. We prove that all solutions smooth at the center of symmetry agree with a Friedmann spacetime at leading order in $\xi$, and with an eye toward Cosmology, we focus on $\mathcal{F}$, the set of solutions which agree with a $k<0$ Friedmann spacetime at leading order, providing the maximal family into which generic underdense radial perturbations of the unstable critical Friedmann spacetime will evolve. We prove solutions in $\mathcal{F}$ generically accelerate away from Friedmann spacetimes at intermediate times but decay back to the same leading order Friedmann spacetime asymptotically as $t\to\infty$. Thus instabilities inherent in the Einstein-Euler equations provide a natural mechanism for an accelerated expansion without recourse to a cosmological constant or dark energy.