The perturbed FLRW metric on all scales: Newtonian limit and top-hat collapse

Abstract

The applicability of a linearized perturbed FLRW metric to the late, lumpy universe has been subject to debate. We consider in an elementary way the Newtonian limit of the Einstein equations with this ansatz for the case of structure formation in late-time cosmology, on small and large scales, and argue that linearizing the Einstein tensor produces only a small error down to arbitrarily small, decoupled scales (e.g. Solar system scales). On subhorizon patches, the metric scale factor becomes a coordinate choice equivalent to choosing the spatial curvature, and not a sign that the FLRW metric cannot perturbatively accommodate very different local physical expansion rates of matter; we distinguish these concepts, and show that they merge on large scales for the Newtonian limit to be globally valid. Furthermore, on subhorizon scales, a perturbed FLRW metric ansatz does not already imply assumptions on isotropy, and effects beyond an FLRW background, including those potentially caused by non-linearities of general relativity (GR), may be encoded into non-trivial boundary conditions. The corresponding cosmologies have already been developed in a Newtonian setting by Heckmann and Schücking and none of these boundary conditions can explain the accelerated expansion of the universe. Our analysis of the field equations is confirmed on the level of solutions by an example of pedagogical value, comparing a collapsing top-hat overdensity (embedded into a cosmological background) treated in such perturbative manner to the corresponding exact solution of GR, where we find good agreement even in the regimes of strong density contrast.