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# Results from a Near Infrared Search for Emission-line Stars in the Inner Galaxy: Spectra of New Wolf-Rayet StarsBased on observations made with ESO Telescopes at the La Silla Observatory under programme ID P69.D-0567

## 1 Introduction

Dust in the plane of our Galaxy severely compromises any attempt at complete samples of young stars, but can be mediated by observing at longer wavelengths. In Homeier et al. (2003), we discussed the difficulty in conducting searches for evolved massive stars in the optical passbands, and detailed our observing strategy for finding obscured emission-line stars using narrow band filters near 2 $`\mu `$m. The eventual goal of such a project is the identification of this young stellar population to increase the number of known Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars, to improve the statistics of WR stars in clusters vs. isolated (likely runaways) WRs, and to use WR stars as a tracer of Galactic structure. In this paper we report on spectroscopic follow-up from our imaging program in the inner Milky Way.

## 2 Observations & Reduction

For details of our reduction strategy for the survey images and candidate selection we refer the reader to Homeier et al. (2003). Our candidates are selected with a combination of photometric index and image subtraction. We avoided the region within $`5\mathrm{}`$ of the Galactic center due to severe crowding.

In Table 1 we present central wavelengths and FWHMs for our chosen set of K-band filters (Blum & Damineli (1999), Homeier et al. (2003)). Four filters are centered on the characteristic WR wind emission lines of He I 2.06 $`\mu `$m, C IV 2.08 $`\mu `$m, H I Br$`\gamma `$ 2.166 $`\mu `$m, and He II 2.189 $`\mu `$m, and the additional three continuum filters are at 2.03 $`\mu `$m, 2.14 $`\mu `$m, and 2.248 $`\mu `$m. Thus each line filter measurement has a continuum point to the red and blue, which accounts for spatially variable extinction.

Spectra were taken with SOFI (Moorwood et al. (1998)) on the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) 3.6m New Technology Telescope (NTT) at La Silla on the nights of 2002 May $`12,46`$ and with OSIRIS111 OSIRIS (Ohio State Infrared Imager and Spectrograph) is a collaborative project between Ohio State University and CTIO. Osiris was developed through NSF grants AST 90-16112 and AST 92-18449. OSIRIS is described in the instrument manuals found on the CTIO Web site at http://www.ctio.noao.edu. See also DePoy et al. 1993. on the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory’s (CTIO) Blanco 4m during the nights of 2000 July $`1213`$ and 2002 July $`912`$. Seeing varied between $`0.8\mathrm{}`$ and $`2\mathrm{}`$ during the run at the NTT, between $`11.5\mathrm{}`$ during the 2000 run at the Blanco 4m, and between $`0.8\mathrm{}`$ and $`1.5\mathrm{}`$ during the 2002 run at the Blanco 4m.

SOFI and OSIRIS deliver plate scales of $`0.29\mathrm{}`$ pixel-1 and $`0.40\mathrm{}`$ pixel-1, respectively. With SOFI we used the GR Grism Red for a wavelength coverage from $`1.52.4\mu `$m, and the the $`f/3`$ spectroscopic mode on OSIRIS for a wavelength coverage of $`2.02.4\mu `$m. The spectral resolution at 2.2 m is $`\lambda /\delta \lambda 800`$ for SOFI and $`1200`$ for OSIRIS.

We offset our targets by $`5\mathrm{}`$ along the slit and subtracted these paired observations from each other to remove the background. Spectra were extracted with the APALL task in IRAF222IRAF is distributed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatories. A$`02`$V stars were observed at a range of airmass, the Br$`\gamma `$ line was removed by linear interpolation, and telluric correction of the science spectra was performed with these spectra. For the NTT observations, wavelength calibration was performed using arc spectra. For the 2000 Blanco observations, wavelength calibration was accomplished using OH emission lines (Oliva & Origlia (1992)). For the 2002 Blanco observations, rough wavelength calibration was accomplished using telluric features in the standard star spectrum. Finally, the science spectra were normalized to the continuum.

## 3 Results: 4 New Wolf-Rayet Stars

We have discovered four Wolf-Rayet stars: three WC and one WN. Names were given to the stars following the convention in the Seventh Catalog of Wolf-Rayet Stars (van der Hucht (2001)). In Table 3 we list coordinates for the four stars and in Figures 1-8 we present spectra and finding charts.

### 3.1 Spectra

The three WC stars, WR101p, WR101q, and WR102ca, have nearly identical $`22.4\mu `$m spectra. The most significant differences are: (1) WR101p lacks the C IV line at 2.139 $`\mu `$m, (2) WR101q has a C III line at $`2.11\mu `$m which is stronger than the blend of C IV lines at $`2.08\mu `$m, in contrast to WR101p and WR102ca, (3) WR101q has a line at 2.22 $`\mu `$m of an unknown transition, and (4) WR102ca appears to have more dust than WR101p and WR101q, as its lines are weaker overall due to excess continuum emission by dust ; see the discussion below on excess emission.

The spectra are similar to the spectrum of star 309 in the Quintuplet cluster, which Figer et al. (1999) classified as earlier than WC8 due to its excess emission from He II 3.09 $`\mu `$m and lack of strong emission from He I 2.058 $`\mu `$m . Based on their similar spectral morphology in the $`22.4\mu `$m region, these spectra are consistent with the same classification, with varying amounts of dust dilution. Of the published spectra of known WRs other than the Quintuplet WRs, the closest morphological match is the WC9 star WR 88 (Eenens et al. (1991)). We therefore classify these stars as WC8-9.

The $`22.4\mu `$m spectrum of WR102ka shows strong lines of He I $`2.06\mu `$m and Br$`\gamma `$, weak lines at $`2.103\mu `$m C III/N III, $`2.114\mu `$m He I/N III, 2.189 $`\mu `$m He II, and possibly an unidentified feature at 2.139 $`\mu `$m. In Figure 9 we present the $`2.052.25\mu `$m region of the spectrum of WR102ka to illustrate these weak features.

Of note is the strength of He I $`2.06\mu `$m to Br$`\gamma `$ ; the He I/Br$`\gamma `$ ratio is $`2`$. A few of the Galactic Center He I stars have similar He I/Br$`\gamma `$ ratios (Allen et al. (1990), Krabbe et al. (1991), Blum et al. (1995), Tamblyn et al. (1996), Najarro et al. (1997)), but most also have stronger $`2.11\mu `$m features than WR102ka. The most similar spectral morphology is displayed by two LMC stars, BAT99 45 (HDE269582, BE294) and BAT99 13 (Hen S9, Sk $`\mathrm{66\; 40}`$) (McGregor et al. (1988), Breysacher et al. (1999)). These stars were originally classified as Ofpe/WN9, but later re-classified as WN10h and WN10 (see Crowther & Smith (1997) for an explanation). The general picture is that stars between $`4060`$ M evolve through an LBV stage to become WN8 stars, and in their dormant stage are identified as WN$`911`$ stars (Crowther & Smith (1997); Pasquali et al. (1999)). The star BAT99 45 is at least spectrally variable. The HeI/Br$`\gamma `$ strength changed by a factor of 10 between 1987 January and 1993 September (McGregor et al. (1988), Blum et al. (1995)). Due to the similarity of WR102ka’s $`22.4\mu `$m spectra with BAT99 45 and BAT99 13, we classify it as WN10.

### 3.2 $`JHKs`$ Photometry

In Table 3 we present $`JHKs`$ magnitudes from the latest calibration of the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) catalog333http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/2mass/ A $`JH`$ vs. $`HKs`$ plot is presented in Figure 10, with the main sequence and giant tracks as solid and dotted lines (Koornneef (1983)), and the reddening line for the bluest stars as a dashed line according to a Rieke & Lebofsky (1985) extinction law. Objects falling to the right of the reddening line have colors inconsistent with extinction along the line of sight for the bluest stars, i.e. they have excess emission at Ks, usually attributable to hot dust.

$`J,H,`$ and $`Ks`$ errors were added in quadrature to produce the error bars in Figure 10. For WR101q and WR102ca, no J errors were listed in the 2MASS catalog, and we have therefore not shown a $`JH`$ error.

In Figure 11 we plot $`JH`$ vs. $`HKs`$ values for most of the known Wolf-Rayet stars in the Galaxy taken from the 2MASS catalog. The $`J,H,Ks`$ magnitudes were retrieved using the positions given in the Seventh Catalog of Wolf-Rayet Stars (van der Hucht (2001)). Magnitudes are included if the positions in the 2MASS catalog were within $`3\mathrm{}`$ of the input coordinates. If more than one object was found, the nearest object was taken; misidentifications are possible. We also plot $`JH`$ and $`HK^{}`$ for the WN and WC stars in the Quintuplet cluster, and the four stars with featureless $`K`$band spectra referred to as “cocoon stars”, or “dusty, late-type WC stars” (DWCLs; Figer et al. (1999)). For reference, the $`K`$, $`Ks`$, and $`K^{}`$ filters have slightly different wavelength coverages: the $`Ks`$ filter transmission profile starts $`0.04`$ $`\mu `$m bluer and ends $`0.06`$ $`\mu `$m bluer than $`K`$; $`K^{}`$ starts $`0.04`$ $`\mu `$m bluer and ends $`0.02`$ $`\mu `$m bluer than $`Ks`$.

The WR stars are offset from the reddening line for the bluest main sequence stars towards larger $`HKs`$. To further illustrate this, we include an inset of this region in Figure 11. Both the WN and WC subtypes follow sequences parallel to the plotted reddening line due to intervening interstellar dust, with the WN stars offset by $`0.10.2`$ magnitudes and the WC stars by another 0.4 magnitudes. This can be understood as the effect of the contributions from free-free emission in their ionized winds and a blackbody spectrum from hot dust around most WC stars (see Cohen et al. 1975 and references therein), and possibly line emission. WR stars have strong emission lines in their NIR spectra and this may affect their broad-band colors.

We have also labeled the positions of WR98a and WR104 in Figure 11, both which are associated with ’pinweel’ nebulae (Tuthill et al. (1999); Monnier et al. (1999)). The known pinwheel nebulae arise from the interaction of a WC wind with that of a massive companion. The positions of these stars along the WC sequence support the idea that the near-infrared colors are driven by hot dust, and that most WC stars in the Galaxy produce dust (although not all, as some fall in the region occupied by the WN stars).

WR101p (WC8-9) and WR102ka (WN10) have near-infrared colors more typical of Galactic WN stars and most of the Quintuplet WR stars, as does WR101q (WC8-9), although its $`JH`$ color is uncertain due to an unquantified error in its $`J`$ magnitude. WR102ca (WC8-9) appears to have a large infrared excess and at the same time appears to suffer from less extinction than the rest of the Quintuplet WR stars. We note that it is likely that the J magnitude is severely in error, which could give it an anomalously blue $`JH`$ color and an overestimated $`K`$band excess. In the 2MASS $`H`$ and $`Ks`$ images there are two stars within $`0.08\mathrm{}`$ radius of WR102ca, while in the $`J`$ image only one of the three stars (not WR102ca) is easily visible. All three stars have listings of “null” for their estimated J error, and thus their $`J`$ magnitudes is likely inaccurate.

## 4 Null Detections

In this section we briefly discuss the candidates which turned out not to be emission-line stars upon follow-up spectroscopy. These stars were readily identified as giants by their strong CO absorption lines. Only the 2.06 and 2.08 $`\mu `$m line indices were used successfully to identify WR stars. It is unclear if this is due to a lack of early-type WNs which dominate at the lines of 2.17 and 2.19 $`\mu `$m, a sensitivity issue due to their typically weaker lines, or a detection bias. Our 2.17 and 2.19 $`\mu `$m line indices had considerably more scatter than the 2.06 and 2.08 $`\mu `$m counterparts, leading us to conclude that a detection bias is highly likely. We do however note that we were able to use the $`2.17\mu `$m filter images to identify several objects with nebular Br$`\gamma `$ emission.

During the first set of follow-up observations, objects were selected purely on the photometric indices. Due to the large scatter in these indices, the success rate was low (3 emission-line objects out of 45 candidates, including 1 WR star). Other problems included bad pixels and residual images from bright stars. However, this was largely eliminated with the image subtraction step. With the inclusion of this step, we were able to identify 6 emission-line objects, including 3 WR stars, out of 38 candidates. We found that selection as a photometric candidate and a positive identification as a candidate after image subtraction were separately necessary but not sufficient conditions for the identification of an emission-line star.

Of the candidates which were not emission-line objects, most were multiple objects when observed at higher angular resolution while positioning the slit. None of the members of these multiple objects were emission-line stars. All 4 of the identified WRs were apparently isolated at higher angular resolution. This is a clear case for the need for observations at higher angular resolution in the inner Galaxy where crowding is the dominant source of photometric error.

## 5 Discussion

### 5.1 WC stars

All three of the WC stars detected have similar late-type WC spectra (WC8-9) with dilution by dust. WR102ca is in the Quintuplet cluster, which has a total of 5 members (including this new one) with similar spectra. It also contains 4 stars with featureless K-band spectra, the so-called “cocoon” stars, (Figer et al. (1999)), which are likely also to be late-type WCs with sufficient dust that the continuum emission overwhelms the lines (Chiar & Tielens (2001); Moneti et al. (2001)).

Dust around WC stars arises in regions of high density, which can be achieved in the wind-wind interaction zone with a massive companion. This has been observationally confirmed; there are known periodic WC dust-producers where the dust is produced at periastron (Williams et al. (1987); Veen et al. 1998b ), and recently, the persistent dust-producers WR104 and WR98a have been shown to have pinwheel-shaped nebula (Tuthill et al. (1999); Monnier et al. (1999)) produced by a short-period ($`1`$ yr) WR-O binary system. It is not known if single WC stars can also produce dust solely through their clumped winds (see Veen et al. 1998a  for a discussion). The hint of copius dusty WCs in the inner Galaxy where the metallicity is likely $``$ Z may be a clue to required conditions for dust formation around WC stars.

### 5.2 WRs in the inner Galaxy

In Homeier et al. (2003), an estimate for the number of WRs expected in the inner Galactic sample was given, following from a simple smooth model for the distribution of stars and gas in the Milky Way. They concluded that $`28`$ WR stars should be detected within the area covered by the imaging observations in the inner Milky Way. The model used for the estimate given in Homeier et al. (2003) was normalized to the local number density of WR stars assumed, and also depends on the scale length of the Galactic disk, and the distribution of WR absolute K magnitudes.

A census of WR stars in the region covered by our images (but outside the Galactic center) shows that there are $`35`$ known WRs in the Arches cluster (Nagata et al. (1995), Cotera et al. (1996), Blum et al. (2001), Figer et al. (2002)), 10 in the Quintuplet cluster (Figer et al. (1999)), and at least 2 apparently isolated WR stars near Sgr A (Cotera et al. (1999)), for a total of 47. Most of these are brighter than K$`=12`$, which was the limit considered in the estimate. Already we see that the number of known WRs exceeds the prediction by this very simple model by nearly a factor of two. This suggests a higher star formation rate in the inner Galaxy compared to the local neighborhood. Near-infrared observations toward the inner Galaxy have established that this is indeed the case; see for example the review of the Galactic Center by Morris & Serabyn (1996).

From this calculation, we might expect that no new WRs would be found brighter than K$`=12`$, whereas we have identified 4 in this region. The addition of these 4 stars is not numerically significant, but 3 of the 4 are notable for their apparently isolated location. Either these stars are isolated and are thus runaways, or they are the most massive object of an association which has not yet been discovered. We find no evidence in our images for associations or clusters around these stars, but given our poor angular resolution, we cannot rule out their existence. Also, small clusters may not live very long near the Galactic center. Numerical simulations predict that small ($`2\times 10^4`$ M) clusters will disperse sufficiently within a few Myr so that their surface densities will be indisinguishable from that of their surroundings (Kim et al. (2000); Portegies Zwart et al. (2002)).

## 6 Conclusions

We have discovered 4 new WR stars in the inner Galaxy: three WC$`89`$ stars with similar spectra and one WN10 star. One of the WC stars is a member of the Quintuplet cluster, while the others are not members of any previously known clusters or associations, nor did we find evidence for any previously unknown clusters or associations. We conclude that narrow-band observations at K$``$band wavelengths are a potentially efficient way to identify evolved massive stars in the plane of the Milky Way, and further higher angular resolution work is highly desirable.

###### Acknowledgements.

We would like to thank P. Crowther for especially useful discussions pertaining to WC9 stars and the ambiguity of Ofpe/WN9 K-band spectra. N. H. happily acknowledges the ESO Studentship Programme and thanks the University of Wisconsin Graduate School for partial support. We would like to thank the referee for a careful reading and helpful comments. This research has made use of the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.


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# Integral Coalescence Conditions In 𝐷≥2 Dimension Space

## I I. Introduction

The non relativistic wavefunction exhibits a cusp or a node at the coalescence of any two charged particles because of the singularity associated with the Coulomb interaction between them. The differential form of the cusp coalescence condition satisfied by the wavefunction for both electron-electron and electron-nucleus coalescence was derived for dimensions $`D=3`$ by Kato 1 . This form of the cusp condition is in terms of the spherical average of the wavefunction taken about the singularity. It is this differential form that is most extensively employed in the literature. The integral form of the electron-electron and electron-nucleus cusp and node coalescence condition for $`D=3`$ was originally conjectured by Bingel2 . They have been derived rigorously from the Schrodinger equation by Pack and Byers Brown 3 . The integral form of the coalescence conditions, however, is more general, and therefore more significant, because it retains the angular dependence of the wavefunction at coalescence. The differential form is then readily obtained from the integral form by spherically averaging and differentiating. An example of the usefulness of the integral form is the following. Over the past two and a half decades, there has been uncertainty 4  about whether the local effective potential energy of Kohn-Sham density functional theory 5  was finite or singular at the nucleus of atoms. Employing the differential form of the cusp condition, it was initially proved 4  that the potential energy is finite at the nucleus of spherically symmetric atoms. However, using the integral form, the conclusion of finiteness can be generalized 6  to atoms of arbitrary symmetry, to molecules, and to periodic and aperiodic solids. As another example, it is well known that the differential form of the electron-nucleus cusp condition may be expressed 7  in terms of the spherical average of the electron density about the nucleus. It has consequently been assumed 8  that the differential form of the electron-electron cusp condition can similarly be expressed in terms of the density at the point of electron coalescence. The integral form of the electron-electron cusp condition makes clear that no such expression in terms of the density can exist.

At present, there is considerable interest in both lower dimensional systems such as the two-dimensional $`(D=2)`$ electron gas 9  , the two-dimensional gas in the presence of a magnetic field ( the Quantum Hall Effect) 10 , and in their higher-dimensional $`D4`$ generalizations 11 . Motivated by this interest, we have derived the integral form of the cusp and node coalescence condition for dimensions $`D2`$. It becomes evident that the approximate Laughlin10  wavefunction for the fractional Quantum Hall effect satisfies the $`D=2`$ node coalescence condition. The $`D2`$ differential form of the cusp condition is then obtained by spherically averaging about the singularity over D-dimensional space and differentiating. Employing the integral cusp condition, we have also derived the integral and differential forms of the pair correlation function at the coalescence of two identical particles in $`D2`$ dimensions. The differential form of the cusp condition for the pair correlation function for the uniform electron gas for $`D=3`$ 12  and $`D=2`$13  constitute a special case of our result. The use of cusp conditions for the pair-correlation function in $`D=3`$ spin-density functional theory is expounded in Ref. 14. More recent work on nuclear cusp conditions relevant to density functional theory is described in Ref.15.

## II II . DERIVATION

Consider a nonrelativistic system of $`N`$ charged particles in D $`(2)`$ dimension space with the Hamitonian ($`\mathrm{}=e=1`$)

$$\widehat{H}=\underset{i=1}{\overset{N}{}}\frac{1}{2m_i}_i^2+\underset{j>i=1}{\overset{N}{}}\frac{Z_iZ_j}{r_{ij}},$$
(1)
where $`m_i`$ and $`Z_i`$ are the mass and charge of the ith particle, and $`r_{ij}=|𝐫_i𝐫_j|`$. In D dimesion space, $`𝐫=(x_1,x_2,\mathrm{}x_D)`$, $`r=\sqrt{_{k=1}^Dx_kx_k}`$ and $`^2=_{k=1}^D\frac{}{x_k}\frac{}{x_k}`$. Due to the Coulomb potential energy term, the Hamiltonian is singular when any two particle i and j coalesce($`r_{ij}0`$). For the wavefunction $`\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_1,𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N)`$ which satisfies the Schrödinger equation

$$\widehat{H}\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_1,𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N)=E\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_1,𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N),$$
(2)
to be bounded and remain finite at the singularites, it must satisfy a cusp coalescence condition. If the wavefunction vanishes at the singularity, it must satisfy a node coalescence condition.

We are interested in the form of the wavefunction when two particles approach each other, i.e. when $`r_{ij}`$ is very small. Following Pack and Byers Brown3  we focus our attention on two particles 1 and 2, and transform their coordinates $`𝐫_1`$ and $`𝐫_2`$ to the center of mass $`𝐑_{12}`$ and relative coordinates $`𝐫_{12}`$ as

$`𝐑_{12}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{m_1𝐫_1+m_2𝐫_2}{m_1+m_2}},`$
$`𝐫_{12}`$ $`=`$ $`𝐫_1𝐫_2.`$ (3)
The Hamiltonian of Eq.(1) may then be rewritten as

$`\widehat{H}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\mu _{12}}}_{𝐫_{12}}^2+{\displaystyle \frac{Z_1Z_2}{r_{12}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2(m_1+m_2)}}_{𝐑_{12}}^2+{\displaystyle \underset{i=3}{\overset{N}{}}}\{Z_i({\displaystyle \frac{Z_1}{r_{1i}}}+{\displaystyle \frac{Z_2}{r_{2i}}})\}`$
$`+{\displaystyle \underset{i=3}{\overset{N}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2m_i}}_{𝐫_i}^2+{\displaystyle \underset{j>i=3}{\overset{N}{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{Z_iZ_j}{r_{ij}}},`$ (4)
where $`\mu _{12}=\frac{m_1m_2}{m_1+m_2}`$ is the reduced mass of particles 1 and 2. When particle $`1`$ and $`2`$ are within a small distance of each other( $`0<r_{12}<ϵ`$), and all other particles are well separated, there is only one singularity in the Hamiltonian. Retaining only terms of lower order in $`r_{12}`$, Eq. (3) reduces to

$$[\frac{1}{2\mu _{12}}_{𝐫_{12}}^2+\frac{Z_1Z_2}{r_{12}}+O(ϵ^0)]\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_1,𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N)=0,$$
(5)
where $`O(ϵ^0)`$ refers to terms of order zero (constant) and higher order in $`r_{12}`$ and the vector components $`(𝐫_{12})_k,k=1,2,\mathrm{}D`$).

Eq.(4) is a one-electron-atom equation in D dimension space. Furthermore, it is not an eigenvalue equation. We are interested in the solution of the equation that are finite and continuous at the singularities. Thus, in the limit as $`𝐫_1𝐫_2`$, we could write the wavefunction in two parts as

$$\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_1,𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N)=\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_2,𝐫_2,𝐫_3\mathrm{},𝐫_N)+\delta \mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_1,𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N),$$
(6)
where the term $`\delta \mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_1,𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N)`$ must vanish at the singularity $`𝐫_1=𝐫_2`$. From the above it follows that we need consider only terms of first-order in $`r_{12}`$ in $`\delta \mathrm{\Psi }`$ when $`𝐫_1`$ is near $`𝐫_2`$. Dropping the subscript $`12`$, and writing $`r_{12}`$ as r, we see that $`\delta \mathrm{\Psi }`$ could have terms of the form $`r_DB(𝐫_2,𝐫_3\mathrm{},𝐫_N)`$, or $`_lr_lB_l(𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N)`$ where $`l`$ denotes the $`2`$ to $`(D1)`$-dimensional subspace and $`r_l`$ the distance in the subspace, or $`𝐫𝐂(𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N)`$. Here, $`r_D=r`$ is just the conventional distance in D dimensional space. As an example of the second kind of terms, consider the case of D$`=4`$. There are four $`3`$-dimensional subspaces, and six $`2`$-dimensional subspaces. The distances in the $`3`$-dimensional subspaces constitute the terms $`\sqrt{x_1^2+x_2^2+x_3^2}`$, $`\sqrt{x_1^2+x_2^2+x_4^2}`$,$`\sqrt{x_2^2+x_3^2+x_4^2}`$, and $`\sqrt{x_1^2+x_4^2+x_3^2}`$. The distances in the $`2`$-dimensional subspaces are $`\sqrt{x_i^2+x_j^2}`$, where $`ij`$,and $`i,j=1,2,3,4`$. In the limit $`r0`$, such terms do not affect the O(D) symmetry of the first two terms on the left side of Eq.(5). However, the Laplacian of these terms is singular since $`^2r_d=\frac{d1}{r}`$, where $`r_d`$ is the distance in the d-dimensional subspace. These singularities cannot be cancelled by the Coulomb potential energy singularity term of Eq.(5). Thus, their coefficients must vanish. Therefore, (recovering the subscript $`12`$), Eq.(6) must be written as

$$\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_1,𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N)=\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_2,𝐫_2,𝐫_3\mathrm{},𝐫_N)+r_{12}B(𝐫_2,𝐫_3,\mathrm{},𝐫_N)+𝐫_{12}𝐂(𝐫_2,𝐫_3,\mathrm{},𝐫_N)+O(ϵ^2)$$
(7)
Next substitute Eq. (6) for $`\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_1,𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N)`$ into Eq.(4) and employ $`^2𝐫=0`$. For the Coulomb potential energy singularity to be cancelled we have

$$\frac{1}{2\mu _{12}}\frac{D1}{r_{12}}B(𝐫_2,𝐫_3,\mathrm{},𝐫_N)+\frac{Z_1Z_2}{r_{12}}\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_2,𝐫_2,𝐫_3,\mathrm{},𝐫_N)=0.$$
(8)
At the point of coalescence, the wavefunction is $`\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_2,𝐫_2,𝐫_3,\mathrm{},𝐫_N)`$. Since we require the wavefunction to be finite at this point we have

$$B(𝐫_2,𝐫_3,\mathrm{},𝐫_N)=\frac{2Z_1Z_2\mu _{12}}{D1}\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_2,𝐫_2,𝐫_3\mathrm{},𝐫_N).$$
(9)
Thus, in the limit as $`r_{12}0`$, we may write the wavefunction as

$$\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_1,𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N)=\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_2,𝐫_2,𝐫_3,\mathrm{},𝐫_N)(1+\frac{2Z_1Z_2\mu _{12}}{D1}r_{12})+𝐫_{12}𝐂(𝐫_2,𝐫_3,\mathrm{},𝐫_N).$$
(10)
This is the general form of the integral cusp coalesence condition in D-dimension space.Note that this expression is equally valid even if the wavefunction vanishes at the point of coalescence, i.e. if $`\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_2,𝐫_2,\mathrm{},𝐫_N)=0`$. This latter is referred to as a node coalescence condition. By taking the spherical average of Eq.(10) about the point of coalescence in D-dimension space, we obtain the differential form of the cusp condition:

$$(\frac{\overline{\mathrm{\Psi }}}{r_{12}})|_{r_{12}0}=\frac{2Z_1Z_2\mu _{12}}{D1}\mathrm{\Psi }(r_{12}=0),$$
(11)
where $`\overline{\mathrm{\Psi }}`$ is the spherically averaged wavefunction. For the electron-nucleus coalescence, $`Z_1=1,Z_2=Z`$ the nuclear charge , and $`\mu _{12}m_e`$ the mass of the electron. For the electron-electron coalescence, $`Z_1=1,Z_2=1,\mu _{12}=\frac{1}{2}m_e`$. In $`D=3`$ dimensions, the traditional integral and differential cusp conditions are recovered.

It follows from the definition of the density $`\rho (𝐫_1)`$ which is

$$\rho (𝐫_1)=N\mathrm{\Psi }^{}(𝐫_1,𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N)\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_1,𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N)𝑑𝐫_2\mathrm{}𝑑𝐫_N,$$
(12)
that the differential form of the electron-nucleus cusp condition may be expessed in terms of the density at and about the nucleus. In this case with the nuclear positions fixed, the wavefunction does not depend upon the nuclear coordinates. Then when the electron at $`𝐫_1`$ approaches a nucleus, say fixed at the origin, the integral for the density which is over all the remaining $`N1`$ electrons can be performed. It is evident from the integral cusp coalesence condition Eq.(10) and the above definition of the density, that there can be no such differential form of the cusp condition for electron-electron coalescence. Such expressions in the literature 8  are therefore invalid.

It is however, possible to derive the integral and differential forms of the cusp condition in D-dimensions for the two-particle correlation function $`p(𝐫_1𝐫_2)`$ defined as

$$p(𝐫_1𝐫_2)=\frac{N(N1)}{2}\mathrm{\Psi }^{}(𝐫_1,𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N)\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_1,𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N)𝑑𝐫_3,\mathrm{}d𝐫_N.$$
(13)
In the limit as $`𝐫_1𝐫_2`$ and employing the integral cusp expression of Eq.(10) we have that to first-order in $`r_{12}`$

$`p(𝐫_1𝐫_2)`$ $`=`$ $`p(𝐫_2𝐫_2)(1+{\displaystyle \frac{2Z_1Z_2\mu _{12}}{D1}}r_{12})^2+{\displaystyle \frac{N(N1)}{2}}{\displaystyle (𝐫_{12}𝐂(𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N))^2𝑑𝐫_3\mathrm{}𝑑𝐫_N}`$ (14)
$`+`$ $`N(N1)(1+{\displaystyle \frac{2Z_1Z_2\mu _{12}}{D1}}r_{12}){\displaystyle (𝐫_{12}𝐂(𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N))\mathrm{\Psi }(𝐫_2,𝐫_2,\mathrm{}𝐫_N)𝑑𝐫_3\mathrm{}𝑑𝐫_N}`$
$`+`$ $`O(ϵ^3).`$
This is the integral form of the cusp coalescence condition for the pair-correlation function. The differential form of the cusp condition for the correlation function is

$$(\frac{\overline{p}(𝐫_1𝐫_2)}{r_{12}})|_{r_{12}0}=\frac{4Z_1Z_2\mu _{12}}{D1}p(𝐫_2𝐫_2).$$
(15)
where $`\overline{p}`$ is the spherical average of the correlation function. The differential cusp condition derived for the uniform electron gas in dimensions $`D=3`$ and $`2`$ constitute a special case of this general form of the differential cusp condition.

## III III. CONCLUDING REMARKS

In this paper we have derived the integral and differential forms of the coalescence condition satisfied by the wavefunction at the coalescence of two charged particles in $`D2`$ dimensions. The corresponding integral and differential cusp conditions for the pair correlation function in $`D2`$ dimensional space are thereby derived. These results are also valid for the case of a more generalized Hamitonian which includes a term of the form $`_iv(𝐫_i)`$, where $`v(𝐫_i)`$ is a local external potential. This is because such terms do not contribute any singularities at the coalescense of the two charged particles. Such an external potential could effectively arise for example in the presence of an electric or magnetic field. The coalescence conditions constitute rigorous constraints on the construction and evaluation of approximate wavefunctions. Thus, having derived the integral coalesence condition for $`D=2`$, we now understand that the approximate Laughlin wavefunction 10  does in fact satisfy the node coalescence condition. The Laughlin wavefunction is

$$\mathrm{\Psi }_m(z_1,\mathrm{},z_N)=\underset{j<k}{\overset{N}{}}(z_jz_k)^mexp[\frac{1}{4}\underset{l}{\overset{N}{}}|z_l|^2],$$
(16)
where $`m`$ is an odd integer, and $`z_j=x_j+iy_j`$ is the location of the j th particle expressed as a complex number. It is evident that this wavefunction satisfies the node coalescence condition for $`m3`$. The cusp conditions also impose constraints on the construction of approximate energy functionals within density functional theory 14 ; 16 , and on the wavefunction functionals of the density employed in quantal density functional theory 17 . The integral cusp condition in one dimension, (which is different in form from the result derived for dimension $`D2`$), and from which emanates some very interesting physics, is to be published elsewhere18 .

This work was supported in part by the Research Foundation of CUNY.

### III.1

#### III.1.1


text:
# Conserved cosmological perturbations

## I Introduction

Observation of the peak structure in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy has now confirmed that cosmological perturbations are present before the relevant scales enter the horizon, with an almost flat (scale-invariant) spectrum . The only known explanation for this state of affairs is that the perturbations originate during an almost exponential inflation, from the vacuum fluctuation of one or more light scalar fields.***A related hypothesis replaces inflation by an era of collapse (‘pre-big-bang’  or ‘ekpyrotic’ ), but there is so far no accepted theory of a bounce and therefore no firm prediction from collapsing cosmologies. In particular, there is so far no accepted string-theoretic description of a bounce . In the simplest case only one light field is responsible for the perturbations observed, either the inflaton or some other field .

According to this explanation, classical cosmological perturbations first come into existence a few Hubble times after horizon exit during inflation. At that stage the situation is very simple; each light field (defined as one with an effective mass much less than the Hubble parameter $`H`$) has a Gaussian perturbation with an almost flat spectrum, $`(H/2\pi )^2`$. The problem is to evolve this simple initial condition forward in time to the primordial nucleosynthesis epoch, in the face of our ignorance about the detailed evolution of the Universe before nucleosynthesis.

Fortunately, scales of cosmological interest are still far outside the horizon at nucleosynthesis. As a result there exist perturbations which are under suitable conditions conserved, and largely avoiding the need for more detailed information. One of these  is the ‘curvature perturbation’ $`\zeta `$, which is associated with the perturbation in the total energy density $`\rho `$.The quantity $`\zeta `$ defines the curvature perturbation on spacetime slices of uniform energy density. As we discuss in Section V, on super-horizon scales it is practically the same as $``$ which defines the curvature perturbation on slices orthogonal to comoving worldlines. The latter quantity is the $`\varphi _\mathrm{m}`$ of . In the usual case that $`\zeta `$ originates from the perturbation in the inflaton field, it is supposed to be conserved between the end of inflation and the primordial era, and in the alternative curvaton scenario  (see also ) $`\zeta `$ is supposed to be conserved after the curvaton decays.An analogous scenario has been proposed in the pre big bang scenario . In this scenario though, the required scale-invariant curvaton field perturbations will be generated only if the curvaton has a non-trivial coupling and for particular initial conditions . Recently, further conserved quantities $`\zeta _i`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\zeta }_i`$ have been considered, that are associated with the perturbations in individual energy densities $`\rho _i`$  and number densities $`n_i`$ of conserved quantities . The conservation of the former is invoked in the curvaton scenario, during the era when the curvaton field is oscillating and $`\zeta `$ is growing. The latter are invoked when considering possible isocurvature components of the primordial density perturbation.

In this paper, we present a unified treatment of the conserved quantities $`\zeta `$, $`\zeta _i`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\zeta }_i`$, which is more complete than anything that has been given before. Taking the particular example of $`\zeta `$ as a starting point, we begin in Section II by showing how, to any order in cosmological perturbation theory, conserved quantities may be constructed from perturbations that are defined on a spacetime slicing of uniform integrated expansion. In Section III we generalise the construction and consider the conserved quantities $`\zeta _i`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\zeta }_i`$. In Section IV, we show that in the usual case of first-order perturbation theory, the spatially flat slicing is one of uniform expansion if the shear of the worldlines is negligible. In Section V we consider the comoving shear, and show that it is expected to be negligible in the entire super-horizon regime. We conclude in Section VI. An Appendix mentions some peripheral issues.

## II Energy conservation and the curvature perturbation

In this section we explain the general principle which allows us to construct conserved quantities. We focus on the particularly important example of the curvature perturbation $`\zeta `$ , after which it is clear how other conserved perturbations may be constructed.

The curvature perturbation $`\zeta `$ is so called because it defines the curvature perturbation on slices of uniform energy density . Equivalently though, via the gauge transformations of Section IV, it defines the energy density perturbation on spatially flat slices, according to the formula

$$\zeta =\frac{\delta \rho }{3(\rho +P)}.$$
(1)
This definition is the one that we shall use.

Our starting point is the energy continuity equation. In an unperturbed Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) universe the continuity equation for the energy density $`\rho `$ takes the form

$$\dot{\rho }=3H(\rho +P),$$
(2)
where $`H`$ is the Hubble expansion rate and $`P`$ is the pressure. In the real perturbed Universe, the same equation (2) still holds along each comoving worldline, so long as the dot is taken to denote the derivative with respect to the proper time, $`\tau `$, along the comoving worldline and we define $`H`$ locally through the equation

$$H\frac{1}{3}𝒱\frac{\text{d}𝒱}{\text{d}\tau },$$
(3)
where $`𝒱`$ is an infinitesimal comoving volume. Equivalently, the local continuity equation may be written as

$$𝒱\frac{\text{d}\rho }{\text{d}𝒱}=(\rho +P),.$$
(4)
or

$$\frac{\text{d}\rho }{\text{d}N}=3(\rho +P).$$
(5)
where $`N`$ is the local logarithmic integrated expansion (the number of Hubble times) defined as

$$NH𝑑\tau .$$
(6)
Our crucial assumption now is that the pressure perturbation is practically adiabatic. This assumption means that the local pressure, $`P`$, is a practically unique function of local energy density, $`\rho `$. i.e.,

$$P=\overline{P}(\rho ),$$
(7)
where $`\overline{P}`$ is the same function for all worldlines. This allows Eq. (5) to be integrated. Setting $`N=0`$ on an initial spacetime slice the integration gives $`\rho `$ as a unique function of the local integrated expansion, $`N`$, upto an initial integration constant

$$\rho =\overline{\rho }(N+\delta N),$$
(8)
where the integration constant for each worldline, $`\delta N`$, is determined by the actual density on the initial hypersurface, $`\rho |_{N=0}=\overline{\rho }(\delta N)`$.

Subsequent spacetime slices of fixed $`N`$ correspond to a uniform integrated expansion slicing of the spacetime§§§ Note that this is not the same as the uniform Hubble slicing introduced by Bardeen  which refers to the local expansion rate of the normals. , meaning that the integrated expansion going from one slice to another is spatially homogeneous. For linear perturbations about an FRW cosmology, there is an infinity of such uniform-$`N`$ slicings, since we can start with any initial slice and propagate it by calculating $`N`$ from that slice along each comoving worldline. In Sections IV and V, we show that on super-horizon scales a particular uniform-$`N`$ slicing is the uniform curvature slicing (i.e., the one with unperturbed intrinsic scalar curvature). In what follows we will restrict our attention to spatially flat FRW models and will refer to this as the spatially flat slicing.

Now we come to the crucial point. When evaluating the density, $`\rho `$, on any uniform-$`N`$ slicing, the perturbation $`\delta N`$ of the quantity appearing in Eq. (8) is time-independent, by construction. This statement holds to any order in cosmological perturbation theory so long as one can construct a uniform-$`N`$ slicing along the comoving worldlines.

Writing $`\delta N`$ in terms of the density perturbation on spatially flat slices, to first order, one finds the conserved quantity

$$\delta N=\frac{\text{d}N}{\text{d}\rho }\delta \rho =\frac{\delta \rho }{\rho ^{}(N)}=H\frac{\delta \rho }{\dot{\rho }}.$$
(9)
which is $`\zeta `$ defined in Eq. (1). To arrive at the conserved quantity $`\zeta `$, we considered the flat slicing. Were we instead to use some other uniform-expansion slicing, the conserved quantity defined by the right hand side of Eq. (9) would be different from $`\zeta `$, but it would be related to $`\zeta `$ by the gauge transformation Eq. (40). Hence it would be conserved if and only if $`\zeta `$ is conserved, and we lose no generality by fixing the choice of the uniform-expansion slicing as the flat one.

The constancy of $`\zeta `$ (on sufficiently large scales and assuming that the pressure perturbation is adiabatic) was obtained several years ago  in the context of Einstein gravity. More recently, its constancy under the same condition was obtained directly from the local conservation of energy  using a purely geometric argument equivalent to the one that we have given. In the present paper, we are going to show in Sections IV and V that in this context all super-horizon scales are ‘sufficiently large’; in other words, we will show that the flat slicing is a uniform-expansion one on all super-horizon scales.

It is worth noting that the conservation of $`\zeta `$ can hold in even more general circumstances, because it comes from the generalised adiabatic condition Eq. (8) which may hold even if the energy conservation equation (5) fails. Thus, $`\zeta `$ will be conserved even if there is an additional source term $`Q`$ on the right-hand-side of in Eq. (energy), so long as $`Q`$ (the energy transfer per Hubble time) is itself a unique function of the local density for all worldlines, i.e., $`Q=\overline{Q}(\rho )`$, as reported in Ref. .

Going to second order, and again working on some uniform-$`N`$ slicing, the conserved quantity is

$`\delta N`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\text{d}N}{\text{d}\rho }}\delta \rho +{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle \frac{\text{d}^2N}{\text{d}\rho ^2}}(\delta \rho )^2`$ (10)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{\delta \rho }{\rho ^{}}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}{\displaystyle \frac{\rho ^{\prime \prime }}{\rho ^3}}(\delta \rho )^2.`$ (11)
This second-order extension of the conserved quantity $`\zeta `$ has not been given before. It will be useful in propagating forward the evolution of second-order perturbations produced during inflation  through the end of inflation and relating them to observations. Also, we note that Sasaki and Tanaka  have shown that it is possible to use a uniform-$`N`$ slicing to study non-linear field perturbations on large scales during inflation.

## III Other conserved quantities

Generalising from the construction of $`\zeta `$, it is clear that for any monotonically increasing or decreasing quantity, satisfying a local conservation equation of the form

$$𝒱\frac{f}{𝒱}=y(f),$$
(12)
we can construct a conserved first-order perturbation

$$X_fH\frac{\delta f}{\dot{f}},$$
(13)
with $`\delta f`$ evaluated on some uniform-$`N`$ slicing which we will take to be the spatially flat one. This construction gives $`\zeta X_\rho `$ as a special case, and we shall now see how it gives the other conserved quantities $`\zeta _i`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\zeta }_i`$ .

### A Separately conserved energy densities

Suppose the total energy density $`\rho `$ of the Universe is a sum of components, $`\rho _i`$, each one of them either radiation or matter, and with no energy transfer between the components. In that case the pressure of each component is a unique function of its energy ($`P_i=\rho _i/3`$ for radiation and $`P_i=0`$ for matter) and each component satisfies its own separate energy conservation equation (since there is no energy transfer) In this expression, $`𝒱`$ is the volume which is comoving with the flow of $`\rho _i`$. This is not strictly the same as the volume which is comoving with the flow of total energy density, but we are going to show in Section IV that on super-horizon scales all comoving volumes become equivalent.

$$𝒱\frac{\rho _i}{𝒱}=(\rho _i+P_i).$$
(14)
As a result there are the separately conserved perturbations

$`\zeta _i`$ $``$ $`X_{\rho _i}`$ (15)
$`=`$ $`H{\displaystyle \frac{\delta \rho _i}{\dot{\rho }_i}}`$ (16)
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}{\displaystyle \frac{\delta \rho _i}{\rho _i+P_i}},`$ (17)
where $`\delta \rho _i`$ is evaluated on the flat slicing. This is another result of .

One can express the total density perturbation, $`\zeta `$, as a weighted sum of the separate $`\zeta _i`$;

$$\zeta =\frac{\dot{\rho }_i\zeta _i}{\dot{\rho }_i}.$$
(18)
If the $`\zeta _i`$ are all equal, then $`\zeta =\zeta _i`$ which is constant. Otherwise $`\zeta `$ may have some variation, determined by the conserved isocurvature perturbations defined by

$$𝒮_{ij}3\left(\zeta _i\zeta _j\right).$$
(19)
The condition that the $`\zeta _i`$ are equal is just the adiabatic condition, that all of the separate energy densities (and hence the total pressure) are uniform on slices of uniform total energy density.

There are two eras in the early Universe where separately-conserved $`\zeta _i`$ have been invoked. One is the comparatively late era, beginning when the temperature falls below $`1\text{MeV}`$ and ending when cosmological scales start to approach the horizon.Recall that electron-positron annihilation and neutrino decoupling both take place when the temperature is around $`1\text{MeV}`$.

The energy density during this era has four components,

$$\rho =\rho _{\mathrm{CDM}}+\rho _B+\rho _\nu +\rho _\gamma ,$$
(20)
with the radiation (photons and neutrinos) dominating the matter (Cold Dark Matter and baryonic matter). The values of the four conserved quantities $`\zeta _{\mathrm{CDM}}`$, $`\zeta _B`$, $`\zeta _\nu `$ and $`\zeta _\gamma `$ determine the evolution of the entire set of cosmological perturbations after horizon entry, and can therefore be determined by observation. The three isocurvature perturbations (conventionally defined relative to the photon density to be $`𝒮_{\mathrm{cdm}}𝒮_{\mathrm{cdm}\gamma }`$, $`𝒮_B𝒮_{B\gamma }`$ and $`𝒮_\nu 𝒮_{\nu \gamma }`$) are found by observation to be at most of order $`\zeta `$ . Since radiation dominates, one deduces from Eq. (18) that $`\zeta `$ is constant on large scales to high accuracy during this era.

The other era, which occurs in the recently proposed curvaton scenario  (see also ), is the era (after inflation, but before primordial nucleosynthesis) when the massive curvaton field, $`\sigma `$, oscillates ($`P_\sigma =0`$) in a radiation background ($`P_r=\rho _r/3`$),

$$\rho =\rho _\sigma +\rho _\mathrm{r}.$$
(21)
Here, $`\zeta _\mathrm{r}`$ is supposed to be negligible so that the total curvature perturbation, $`\zeta `$, is given by Eq. (18) as

$`\zeta (t)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{3\rho _\sigma }{4\rho _\mathrm{r}+3\rho _\sigma }}\zeta _\sigma .`$ (22)
Well before the curvaton decays, the radiation is supposed to dominate so that $`\zeta `$ grows like $`\rho _\sigma /\rho _\mathrm{r}a(t)`$, providing an example where the total $`\zeta `$ is not conserved on super-horizon scales after inflation.

### B Conserved number densities

If $`n_i`$ is a conserved number density, then $`n_i`$ is inversely proportional to the volume. \**\**\**The volume should be the one comoving with the flow of the conserved quantity, but as already stated we are going to show in Sections IV and V that the choice of comoving volume is irrelevant on super-horizon scales. This irrelevance is assumed implicitly when the conservation of $`\stackrel{~}{\zeta }_i`$ is discussed in . A conservation law of the form given in Eq. (53) is satisfied with $`y(f)=f`$ and $`f=n_i`$, leading to the conservation of the first-order perturbation

$$\stackrel{~}{\zeta }_iX_{n_i}=\frac{1}{3}\frac{\delta n_i}{n_i}.$$
(23)
These conserved quantities find an application  in connection with the three isocurvature perturbations $`𝒮_{\mathrm{cdm}}`$, $`𝒮_B`$ and $`𝒮_\nu `$. Before $`T1\text{MeV}`$, these quantities are not the appropriate ones to consider, because the separate energy density perturbations $`\zeta _i`$ may vary with time or be simply undefined. (The latter is the case for $`\zeta _B`$ before the quark-hadron transition.) One can however consider instead the number density $`n_{\mathrm{cdm}}`$ of Cold Dark Matter particles, the density $`n_B`$ of Baryon Number and the density $`n_L`$ of Lepton Number. Each of these number densities corresponds to a conserved quantity after some epoch, which may be regarded as the epoch when the quantity originates. The corresponding perturbations $`\stackrel{~}{\zeta }_i`$ are thus conserved, and after the temperature falls below $`1\text{MeV}`$ they determine the three isocurvature perturbations according to the formulas

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}𝒮_{\mathrm{cdm}}`$ $``$ $`\stackrel{~}{\zeta }_{\mathrm{cdm}}\zeta `$ (24)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}𝒮_B`$ $``$ $`\stackrel{~}{\zeta }_B\zeta `$ (25)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}𝒮_\nu `$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{45}{7}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{\xi }{\pi }}\right)^2\left(\stackrel{~}{\zeta }_L\zeta \right).`$ (26)
In the last formula, $`\xi `$ is the lepton asymmetry which must satisfy the nucleosynthesis constraint $`|\xi |<0.07`$. In this way, the three isocurvature perturbations can be calculated (or shown to vanish) given a model of the early Universe.

## IV Uniform expansion between flat slices

The main goal of this section is to show that the local expansion of the Universe between spatially flat slices is uniform on sufficiently large scales where shear is negligible. This result is purely geometric, making no reference to the theory of gravity. Our treatment amplifies the original one in Ref. , and in particular we show for the first time that the result is independent of the spacetime threading that defines the expansion.

### A The metric perturbation

The unperturbed FRW metric and comoving coordinates are defined by the line element

$$\text{d}s^2=\text{d}t^2+a^2(t)\delta _{ij}\text{d}x^i\text{d}x^j,$$
(27)
corresponding to metric components $`g_{00}=1`$, $`g_{0i}=0`$ and $`g_{ij}=\delta _{ij}a^2`$.

We are interested in the perturbed spacetime that is our Universe, which we assume can be described by linear perturbations about a FRW geometry. To define the perturbations one has to choose a coordinate system which reduces to Eq. (27) in the limit where the perturbations vanish. Such a coordinate system (gauge) defines a time-slicing (the spatial hypersurfaces with constant time coordinate) and a threading (the worldlines with constant space coordinates) of the spacetime. Since the coordinate system is required to coincide with Eq. (27) in the limit where the perturbations vanish, the slicing and threading coincide with the unperturbed ones in that limit. We shall take this requirement for granted when referring to a ‘generic’ slicing or threading.

Once the perturbations are defined, their evolution to first order may be described using the unperturbed coordinate system, and Fourier components with different wavevectors $`𝐤`$ decouple. The super-horizon regime is the regime $`aH/k1`$.

In this paper we are interested in the scalar mode of the perturbations in the metric (no gravitational waves or vorticity). In a generic gauge the Fourier components of the metric perturbation are specified by functions $`A`$, $`B`$, $`D`$ and $`E`$,††††††These are the quantities defined in , and are equal respectively to the quantities $`A`$, $`B^{(0)}`$, $`H_L`$ and $`H_T^{(0)}`$ of Bardeen . The quantities $`\mathrm{\Delta }x`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }t`$ below are respectively the the $`L`$ and $`aT`$ of Bardeen, and the quantity $`V`$ in Eq. (60) is the $`v_\mathrm{S}^{(0)}`$ of Bardeen.

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\delta g_{00}`$ $``$ $`A`$ (28)
$`2a^2\delta g_{0i}`$ $``$ $`B_iik_iB`$ (29)
$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}a^2\delta g_{ij}`$ $``$ $`\delta _{ij}D+P_{ij}E`$ (30)
$`=`$ $`\delta _{ij}\psi {\displaystyle \frac{k_ik_j}{k^2}}E,`$ (31)
where $`P_{ij}`$ projects out the traceless part;

$$P_{ij}\frac{k_ik_j}{k^2}+\frac{1}{3}\delta _{ij},$$
(32)
and

$$\psi D+\frac{1}{3}E.$$
(33)
Under the coordinate transformation $`tt+\mathrm{\Delta }t`$ and $`x^ix^i+\mathrm{\Delta }x^i`$, with the Fourier component of $`\mathrm{\Delta }x^i`$ of the form

$$\mathrm{\Delta }x^i=i\frac{k_i}{k}\mathrm{\Delta }x,$$
(34)
the metric components transform according to

$`\mathrm{\Delta }A`$ $`=`$ $`\dot{\mathrm{\Delta }t}`$ (35)
$`\mathrm{\Delta }B`$ $`=`$ $`a\dot{\mathrm{\Delta }x}+k\mathrm{\Delta }t`$ (36)
$`\mathrm{\Delta }D`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{k}{3}}\mathrm{\Delta }xH\mathrm{\Delta }t`$ (37)
$`\mathrm{\Delta }E`$ $`=`$ $`k\mathrm{\Delta }x`$ (38)
$`\mathrm{\Delta }\psi `$ $`=`$ $`H\mathrm{\Delta }t`$ (39)
The perturbation $`E`$ can be eliminated by a transformation of the spatial coordinates, while $`\psi `$ depends only on the slicing. The latter defines the intrinsic scalar 3-curvature of the slicing, and is called its curvature perturbation.

The perturbation in a generic quantity $`g`$ defined in the unperturbed Universe, such as energy density, pressure or the value of a scalar field, has the transformation

$$\mathrm{\Delta }g=\dot{g}\mathrm{\Delta }t.$$
(40)
Applied to the energy-density, this transformation along with Eq. (39) leads to the gauge-invariant definition of the ‘curvature perturbation’ $`\zeta `$,

$$\zeta =\psi H\frac{\delta \rho }{\dot{\rho }}.$$
(41)
Evaluated on slices of uniform density it is indeed the curvature perturbation, but evaluated on flat slices it specifies instead the energy density perturbation through Eq. (1).

### B Shear and the expansion rate

A given threading of spacetime is associated with an expansion $`\theta `$, a traceless symmetric shear $`\sigma _{ij}`$ and an antisymmetric vorticity $`\omega _{ij}`$. At a given spacetime point, in a locally-inertial rest-frame, these quantities are given by the standard decomposition

$$_iw_j=\frac{1}{3}\theta \delta _{ij}+\sigma _{ij}+\omega _{ij},.$$
(42)
where $`w_i`$ is the three-velocity of the infinitesimally nearby threads. The expansion $`\theta `$ gives the rate of increase with respect to proper time $`\tau `$ of an infinitesimal volume $`𝒱`$ expanding with the threads,

$$\theta =\delta ^{ij}_iw_j=\frac{1}{𝒱}\frac{\text{d}𝒱}{\text{d}\tau }.$$
(43)
For the scalar perturbations that we are considering, the vorticity vanishes, and the shear takes the form

$$\sigma _{ij}=P_{ij}\sigma .$$
(44)
We shall call $`\sigma `$ the shear as well.

In a given gauge, the metric perturbations determine the shear and expansion rate of the coordinate threads according to the expressions

$`\sigma `$ $`=`$ $`\dot{E}`$ (45)
$`\delta \theta `$ $`=`$ $`3\dot{D}3HA.`$ (46)
The second relation may be written as

$$\delta \theta =3\dot{\psi }\sigma 3HA.$$
(47)
Going to a new threading corresponding to the transformation Eq. (34), the change in the Fourier component of the local velocity field of the threads is

$$\mathrm{\Delta }w_i=\dot{\mathrm{\Delta }x^i}=i\frac{k_i}{k}\dot{\mathrm{\Delta }x},$$
(48)
The corresponding changes in the shear and the expansion are equal and opposite,

$$\mathrm{\Delta }(\delta \theta )=\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma =k\dot{\mathrm{\Delta }x},$$
(49)
while the perturbations $`\psi `$ and $`A`$ are unchanged. It follows that Eq. (47) is valid for any threading, not only for the coordinate threading. (In , Eq. (47) was given for the special case of the threading normal to the coordinate slicing.)

Following  we consider, instead of $`\theta `$, the expansion $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }`$ with respect to coordinate time. Its perturbation is

$$\delta \stackrel{~}{\theta }=3\dot{\psi }\sigma .$$
(50)
For the flat slicing ($`\psi =0`$) this becomes

$$\delta \stackrel{~}{\theta }=\sigma .$$
(51)
This result is true for any choice of the threading that defines the expansion rate, and has been derived without any reference to a theory of gravity.

The expressions given so far are valid quite generally. We are interested though in super-horizon scales. On sufficiently large scales the shear must become negligible compared with the Hubble parameter, so that we recover an unperturbed FRW universe. It follows that $`\delta \stackrel{~}{\theta }`$ is negligible on sufficiently large scales, or in other words that the expansion between successive flat slices becomes unperturbed. This means that on sufficiently large scales we can make the approximation

$$\stackrel{~}{\theta }(𝐱,t)=3H(t),$$
(52)
where $`H(t)`$ is the usual unperturbed quantity and $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }`$ is the expansion with respect to coordinate time of a generic threading. (Remember that we consider only threadings which coincide with the unperturbed one in the limit of zero perturbation.)

Using Eq. (52), we can combine the results of section II and III to derive the following general result for cosmological perturbations:

> Consider a monotonically increasing or decreasing quantity $`f`$, defined in some region of spacetime, and its first-order perturbation $`\delta f`$ defined on the spatially flat slicing. Consider also some threading of spacetime, defining an infinitesimal volume element $`𝒱`$. If $`f`$ satisfies a local conservation equation of the form
>
> $$𝒱\frac{\text{d}f}{\text{d}𝒱}=y(f),$$
> (53)
> then the rate of change of the perturbation
>
> $$X_fH\frac{\delta f}{\dot{f}}$$
> (54)
> is
>
> $$\dot{X}_f=\frac{1}{3}\sigma $$
> (55)
> where $`\sigma `$ is the shear of the threading. As a result, $`X_f`$ is conserved on sufficiently large scales, where the shear is negligible.

### The variation of $`\zeta `$

Taking the derivative of Eq. (41) and using the local conservation of energy along comoving worldlines one finds

$$\dot{\zeta }=\frac{H}{\rho +P}\delta P_{\mathrm{nad}}\sigma ,$$
(56)
where $`\sigma `$ is the shear of the comoving worldlines and the non-adiabatic part of the pressure perturbation is

$$\delta P_{\mathrm{nad}}\delta P\frac{\dot{P}}{\dot{\rho }}\delta \rho .$$
(57)
This result was derived by essentially the above method in . It was first derived (by a different method, and actually for the curvature perturbation $``$) in , Eqs. (5.19) to (5.21). In the particular case that the Universe consists entirely of matter and radiation, $`\zeta `$ is given by Eq. (18). One easily checks  that this expression is compatible with Eq. (56).

## V Shear on super-horizon scales

According to Eq. (55), the quantity $`X_f`$ is conserved on scales which are sufficiently large that $`\sigma `$ is negligible. In this section we argue that any super-horizon scale is ‘sufficiently large’ in this context. To be more precise, we argue that the shear satisfies

$$|\sigma |/H(k/aH),$$
(58)
which ensures that in one Hubble time the change in $`X_f`$ is less than $`k/aH`$.\**\**\**On the left hand side of this expression, $`\sigma `$ is the typical magnitude of the shear on scale $`k`$, defined for instance as ‡‡‡‡‡‡LLbook the square root of its spectrum $`𝒫_\sigma (k)`$.

In making the argument, we shall invoke the Einstein field equations. This is not much of a restriction as we do not necessarily have to specify any physical origin for the stress-energy tensor, but simply equate it with a fixed multiple of the Einstein tensor derived from the metric. This leads to a purely geometrical definition of, e.g., the comoving density perturbation, which need have nothing to do with the motion of particles. However at relatively late cosmic times, it may be safe to assume that the Einstein field equations are satisfied with the stress-energy tensor related to particle physics content in the usual way.

The other assumption we make is that anisotropic stress is negligible on super-horizon scales. As noted by Bardeen in 1980 , significant anisotropic stress on super-horizon scales would generate shear and the curvature perturbation, but there is no known mechanism for generating such stress.

We first note that any spatial gauge transformation, Eq. (34) corresponds to a change in the local physical velocity $`\mathrm{\Delta }v_ia\mathrm{\Delta }w_i`$ (Eq. (48)). This generates a change in the shear $`|\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma |/H=vk/aH`$). Since we are dealing with small perturbations, $`v1`$ so that $`|\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma |/Hk/aH`$.

It follows that we need only establish Eq. (58) for the shear of the comoving threading, which $`\sigma `$ shall denote from now on. Generalising the discussion of Bardeen  to include the case where $`P/\rho `$ may vary, we shall show that in fact

$$|\sigma |/H(k/aH)^2.$$
(59)
The comoving shear is related to two commonly used gauge-invariant variables, namely the curvature perturbation $``$ of slices orthogonal to comoving worldlines (comoving slices) and the curvature perturbation $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ of zero-shear hypersurfaces (the Bardeen potential): \*†\*†\*†We are defining $`\psi `$ with the right hand side evaluated on comoving slices, which corresponds to established conventions.

$$\frac{\sigma }{H}=\frac{k}{aH}V=\left(\frac{k}{aH}\right)^2\left(+\mathrm{\Phi }\right).$$
(60)
(The quantity $`V`$ defines the velocity $`v_i`$ of the comoving worldlines relative to the the zero-shear threading, through the relation $`v_i=i(k_i/k)V`$ .) The curvature perturbation $``$ is closely related to the curvature of uniform-density slices, $`\zeta `$:

$$=\zeta \frac{H\delta \rho _{\mathrm{com}}}{\dot{\rho }},$$
(61)
where the subscript ‘com’ denotes the comoving slicing.

The combined energy and momentum constraints of Einstein’s equations relate the comoving density perturbation to the Bardeen potential

$$\frac{H\delta \rho _{\mathrm{com}}}{\dot{\rho }}=\frac{2}{9(1+w)}\left(\frac{k}{aH}\right)^2\mathrm{\Phi },$$
(62)
where $`wP/\rho `$. Thus we can rewrite Eq. (60) for the comoving shear in terms of $`\zeta `$ and the Bardeen potential, giving

$$\frac{\sigma }{H}=\left(\frac{k}{aH}\right)^2\zeta +\left(\frac{k}{aH}\right)^2\left[1\frac{2}{9(1+w)}\left(\frac{k}{aH}\right)^2\right]\mathrm{\Phi }.$$
(63)
Equation (63) ensures that the comoving shear will be small ($`\sigma /H\zeta `$) on super-horizon scales so long as the Bardeen potential, $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$, remains of the same order as $`\zeta `$. Notice also that if the $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ remains finite on large scales, then the comoving density perturbation Eq. (62) also vanishes on large scales, and $``$ and $`\zeta `$ are equal (and constant) on large scales. However, it has been argued  that cosmological perturbation theory can still be valid even if certain curvature perturbations, in particular $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$, become formally bigger than one.

The Bardeen potential is not uniquely determined by the value of $`\zeta `$, but the Einstein’s equations give a first-order evolution equation  (in the absence of anisotropic stress )

$$H^1\dot{\mathrm{\Phi }}+\left[\frac{5+3w}{2}\frac{1}{3}\left(\frac{k}{aH}\right)^2\right]\mathrm{\Phi }=\frac{3}{2}\left(1+w\right)\zeta .$$
(64)
During conventional slow-roll inflation (with $`w1`$ and $`\dot{\mathrm{\Phi }}H\mathrm{\Phi }`$), the Bardeen potential is indeed small, $`\mathrm{\Phi }3(1+w)\zeta /2`$ on super-horizon scales. But we wish to eliminate the possibility that the Bardeen potential subsequently becomes large on super-horizon scales.

#### 1 Adiabatic perturbations

For strictly adiabatic matter perturbations, with $`\delta P_{\mathrm{nad}}=0`$, Eqs. (56), (63) and (64) yield coupled first-order equations for the evolution of $`\zeta `$ and $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$, which to lowest order in $`k/aH`$ gives

$`H^1\dot{\zeta }`$ $``$ $`\left({\displaystyle \frac{k}{aH}}\right)^2\mathrm{\Phi },`$ (65)
$`H^1\dot{\mathrm{\Phi }}+{\displaystyle \frac{5+3w}{2}}\mathrm{\Phi }`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{3}{2}}\left(1+w\right)\zeta ,`$ (66)
which yield two independent long-wavelength solutions, which are represented by

$`\zeta `$ $``$ $`C_+,`$ (67)
$`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ $``$ $`C_{}e^{(5+3\stackrel{~}{w})N/2},`$ (68)
where $`\stackrel{~}{w}N=w𝑑N`$. The first of these solutions, with constant $`\zeta `$ on large scales, remains the “growing mode” solution so long as

$$H^1\dot{\zeta }C_{}k^2e^{3(2w\stackrel{~}{w}1)N/2},$$
(69)
for the “decaying mode” on large scales, approaches zero. This is always true in an expanding universe ($`N+\mathrm{}`$) so long as $`ww_{\mathrm{}}<1`$, i.e., $`P<\rho `$. This is easily interpreted as the condition for the decay of the shear relative to the Hubble rate ($`\sigma /H`$) in an expanding universe.

Using these same equations, we can understand the super-horizon evolution of the shear and the curvature perturbations in a collapsing universe ($`N\mathrm{}`$). For $`w<1`$, the shear grows relative to the Hubble rate, and $`\zeta `$ does not remain constant. The critical case $`w=1`$ (maximally stiff fluid) occurs if the energy density is dominated by scalar fields with negligible potential. This is supposed to happen in the pre big bang scenario, and in the late stages of the second version of the ekpyrotic scenario  where the bounce is supposed to be singular from the four-dimensional viewpoint. For $`w=1`$, $`\zeta `$ on super-horizon scales grows logarithmically with respect to cosmic time and has a strongly scale-dependent spectrum . (It is however  still small at the string epoch, which in the pre big bang scenario is supposed to be the bounce epoch.)

In the first version of the ekpyrotic scenario , where the bounce is supposed to be non-singular from the four-dimensional viewpoint, collapse is driven by a scalar field with a steep negative potential which violates the dominant energy condition and gives $`w1`$. The same is supposed to happen in the second version of the ekpyrotic scenario  at early times. In these cases, the shear rapidly decreases  and $`\zeta `$ is constant on large scales, with a strongly scale-dependent spectrum $`𝒫_\zeta ^{\frac{1}{2}}k^2`$. The Bardeen potential $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$, related to $`\zeta `$ by Eq. (65), grows rapidly and has a flat spectrum  $`𝒫_\mathrm{\Phi }^{\frac{1}{2}}k^0`$. But equation (55) shows that it is only the comoving shear that affects $`\zeta `$, and the shear is related to spatial gradients of the Bardeen potential, Eq. (63). A scale-invariant Bardeen potential ($`\mathrm{\Phi }k^0`$) corresponds to a strongly tilted blue spectrum for the shear ($`\sigma k^2`$).

#### 2 Non-adiabatic perturbations

If we relax the requirement that the matter perturbations are adiabatic (but still assuming no anisotropic stress) then we no longer have a closed system of equations for $`\zeta `$ and $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$. However, we can still estimate $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ in the long-wavelength regime given $`\zeta `$ and integrating

$`{\displaystyle \frac{2}{3}}H^1\dot{\mathrm{\Phi }}+{\displaystyle \frac{5+3w}{3}}\mathrm{\Phi }`$ $``$ $`(1+w)\zeta .`$ (70)
We also need an initial condition a few Hubble times after horizon exit during slow-roll inflation. Starting with the vacuum fluctuation, direct calculation shows that $`\zeta `$ at this stage is either practically constant (single-field inflation) or only varying slowly on the Hubble timescale (multi-field inflation). Through Eq. (70) this gives $`\mathrm{\Phi }(3/2)(1+w)\zeta `$, and hence $`|\mathrm{\Phi }||\zeta |`$.

We are now going to argue that Eq. (70) will keep $`|\mathrm{\Phi }|\text{ }<|\zeta |`$ throughout the super-horizon era. A rough argument is the following. Suppose that instead $`|\mathrm{\Phi }||\zeta |`$ in some super-horizon regime. Then Eq. (70) becomes

$$\frac{2}{3}H^1(\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Phi })\dot{}\frac{5+3w(t)}{3}<(2/3),$$
(71)
where we used the energy condition $`w>1`$ which is always satisfied in scalar field theory with a positive kinetic energy. This equation shows that $`|\mathrm{\Phi }|`$ would always be decreasing in any expanding universe where $`|\mathrm{\Phi }||\zeta |`$, suggesting that such a regime cannot actually be reached starting from the initial condition $`|\mathrm{\Phi }||\zeta |`$.

A more direct argument is to integrate Eq. (70), giving

$$F\mathrm{\Phi }=\frac{3}{2}_{\mathrm{ln}a_1}^{\mathrm{ln}a}\left(1+w(a^{})\right)F(a^{})\zeta (a^{})\text{d}(\mathrm{ln}a^{}),$$
(72)
where

$$\mathrm{ln}F=_{\mathrm{ln}a_1}^{\mathrm{ln}a}\left(\frac{5+3w(a^{})}{2}\right)\text{d}(\mathrm{ln}a^{}).$$
(73)
Assuming that $`\zeta `$ is never very much bigger than its primordial value, this will give $`|\mathrm{\Phi }|\text{ }<|\zeta |`$ for any reasonable behaviour of $`w(a)`$.

## VI Conclusions

In this paper we have shown how local conservation laws (e.g., energy conservation or baryon number conservation) can lead to conserved perturbations in cosmology. Whenever we have a local continuity equation of the form given in equation (53), then we can construct a cosmological perturbation which is conserved after uniform expansion along comoving worldlines.

In particular we have shown that in linear perturbation theory the integrated expansion along comoving worldlines between spatially flat slices is just given by the comoving shear. Thus on sufficiently large scales (where the shear is negligible) the quantity $`X_f`$ defined in Eq. (54) derived from the conservation equation (53) is conserved. The choice of spatially flat slices gives a gauge-invariant definition of the conserved quantity. This is a purely geometrical result, whose derivation does not require any gravitational field equations. We only require the gravitational field equations in order to estimate the actual comoving shear, finding it to be negligible on super-horizon scales.

The best known example is the curvature perturbation $`\zeta X_\rho `$, which specifies the total density perturbation on spatially flat slices or equivalently the curvature perturbation on uniform-density slices. $`\zeta `$ is constant on sufficiently large scales (where the comoving shear is negligible) for adiabatic density perturbations, for which the local pressure is a unique function of the local density and hence the total energy conservation is of the form required in equation (53). We have shown that on super-horizon scales, $`\zeta `$ coincides with the comoving curvature perturbation.

It is also possible to construct other perturbed quantities, such as the separate curvature perturbation $`\zeta _iX_{\rho _i}`$ for any perfect fluid whose energy is separately conserved , or $`\stackrel{~}{\zeta }_iX_{n_i}`$, for any conserved number density, $`n_i`$, obeying a local conservation equation of the form $`\dot{n}_i=3n_i`$ .

We also give an expression for the conserved quantity to second-order in the density perturbation which may be employed in calculations of the primordial non-Gaussianity of density perturbations produced from inflation.

###### Acknowledgements.

We are grateful to Marco Bruni and Takahiro Tanaka for useful discussions about non-linear perturbations. This work was supported in part by PPARC grants PPA/G/S/1999/00138, PPA/G/S/2000/00115 and PGA/G/O/2000/00466. DW is supported by the Royal Society.

## Appendix

### The Sasaki-Stewart expression for $`\zeta `$

On super-horizon scales, Eq. (50) becomes

$$\delta \stackrel{~}{\theta }=3\dot{\psi }.$$
(74)
This is valid in any gauge. Choose now a gauge whose slicing is flat at time $`t_1`$, and uniform-density at time $`t`$. Integrating from $`t_1`$ to $`t`$, and using $`\zeta =\psi `$ on the slice at $`t`$, we find that on super-horizon scales

$$\zeta (𝐱,t)=\frac{1}{3}_{t_1}^t\stackrel{~}{\theta }\text{d}t=\delta N_{\mathrm{SS}}(𝐱,t)$$
(75)
where $`N_{\mathrm{SS}}(𝐱,t_1,t)`$ is the integrated expansion from the flat slice at time $`t_1`$, to the uniform-density slice at time $`t`$. This is the expression of Sasaki and Stewart , used by them to calculate the curvature perturbation at the end of multi-field inflation. It is practically independent of the threading that defines the expansion, by virtue of the fact that we are dealing with super-horizon scales.

Our expression Eq. (9) reads $`\zeta =\delta N`$. In contrast with the Sasaki-Stewart expression, this one is valid only during an era when $`\zeta `$ is constant, corresponding to an adiabatic pressure perturbation. To understand the relation with the Sasaki-Stewart expression, we can integrate Eq. (5) from a uniform-density slice at time $`t`$ to a flat slice at time $`t_1`$, both times being within the era when the pressure perturbation is adiabatic. Using $`3\zeta =\delta \rho /(\rho +P)`$ on the slice at $`t_1`$ we get the time-independent result

$$\zeta =\delta N,$$
(76)
where $`N=N_{\mathrm{SS}}`$ is the integrated expansion from $`t`$ to $`t_1`$. We see that the ‘integration constant’ $`\delta N`$ introduced in Section II can be interpreted as a perturbation in the integrated expansion between two slices, and that it is equal (as it must be) to $`\delta N_{\mathrm{SS}}`$.

### Uniform Hubble parameter on comoving slices

In a given gauge, the perturbation in the expansion $`\stackrel{~}{\theta }`$ with respect to coordinate time is given by Eq. (50), which for the flat slicing becomes Eq. (51),

$$\delta \stackrel{~}{\theta }=\sigma .$$
(77)
On super-horizon scales this gives $`|\delta \stackrel{~}{\theta }|/H1`$, valid for any threading. In other words, the expansion with respect to coordinate time is practically unperturbed on flat slices.

We could instead consider the perturbation in the expansion with respect to proper time, given by Eq. (47). On the the comoving slicing one has in the absence of anisotropic stress (Eqs. (5.19) to (5.21) of Bardeen ; see also )

$$\dot{}\dot{\psi }_{\mathrm{com}}=HA_{\mathrm{com}}\left(=H\frac{\delta P_{\mathrm{com}}}{\rho +P}\right),$$
(78)
and therefore

$$(\delta \theta )_{\mathrm{com}}=\sigma .$$
(79)
Like Eq. (77), this expression is valid for any choice of the threading that defines the expansion, and on super-horizon scales it gives $`|\delta \theta |/H1`$ practically independently of the threading. In other words, the expansion with respect to proper time is practically unperturbed on comoving slices, for any choice of the threading. In particular the comoving expansion is practically unperturbed on such slices, $`\delta H/H1`$.

We argued in Section V that $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ is finite on super-horizon scales (in fact, that it is most of order the curvature perturbation), and from Eq. (62) this implies that on comoving slices the density contrast on super-horizon scales is practically zero,

$$|\delta \rho _{\mathrm{com}}/\rho |1.$$
(80)
To summarise: on comoving slices, the perturbations in the locally-defined Hubble parameter and in the energy density are both negligible in the super-horizon regime. The only significant perturbations on comoving slices are therefore curvature perturbation $``$, and the pressure perturbation if it is not adiabatic. The statements of the previous paragraph remain true if we replace the comoving slicing by the uniform-density slicing, since we argued in Section V that these slicings practically coincide on super-horizon scales.

### The adiabatic condition on the pressure perturbation

In the text we defined the adiabatic condition on the pressure perturbation as the condition that the local pressure is a practically unique function of the local energy density. Taking it to be absolutely unique, we obtain the familiar adiabatic condition

$$\delta P=(\dot{P}/\dot{\rho })\delta \rho .$$
(81)
However, on the comoving slicing where $`\delta \rho `$ is anomalously small, and on the uniform-density slicing where it vanishes, it is too strong to require that this expression is valid; there is no reason why the slices of uniform pressure should exactly coincide with the slices of uniform energy density even if the local pressure is a ‘practically’ unique function of the local energy density.

An example is provided by single-field slow-roll inflation. During slow-roll the locally-defined inflaton field is a practically unique function of proper time, $`\varphi (\tau )`$, up to the choice of origin for $`\tau `$. On super-horizon scales, where spatial gradients are practically negligible, this gives practically unique functions $`\rho (\tau )`$ and $`P(\tau )`$, making $`P`$ a practically unique function of $`\rho `$. In other words, the adiabatic condition for the pressure perturbation is satisfied on super-horizon scales during single-field slow-roll inflation (and even afterwards provided that no other field plays a significant role). However, on comoving slices the potential $`V(\varphi )`$ is uniform, and as a result

$$\delta P_{\mathrm{com}}=\delta \rho _{\mathrm{com}}.$$
(82)
This is not in accordance with the strict definition Eq. (81) of an isocurvature pressure perturbation. In particular, during slow-roll inflaton $`\rho P(V)`$ which means that the adiabatic condition for the pressure perturbation is

$$\delta P\delta \rho .$$
(83)
On a generic slicing this is well-satisfied, but on the comoving slicing it is at variance with Eq. (82). All that matters, though, is that both the pressure perturbation and the energy density perturbation are both very small on the comoving slices. Or, to put it differently, that the pressure perturbation is very small on uniform-density slices. This is enough to ensure that the local pressure is a practically unique function of the energy density, leading to the conclusion that $`\zeta `$ is constant during single-field inflation.