paper

Cosmological long wavelength perturbations

arXiv:astro-ph/9802323

Abstract

This paper presents an exact solution to the long wavelength perturbations for the scalar modes and for a scalar field theory with arbitrary potential. Locally these modes are coordinate transformations of the homogeneous background solutions (although non-locally they are not). These solutions are then used to discuss a couple of recent papers in which such perturbations play a role. Abramo, Brandenberger, and Mukhanov have recently argued that long wavelength perturbations have the effect of driving the cosmological constant to zero if the higher order perturbation equation are examined. I argue that this effect is invisible to any local observer, and thus does not constitute a relaxation of the cosmological constant in the normal sense of the term. Grishchuk has argued that the standard lore on the strength of the perturbations at the end of inflation is wrong. I discuss the disagreement in light of the exact long wavelength solutions, and emphasize the importance of the initial conditions in resolving the disagreement.

17pp. This replacement corrects an error and makes clear what the relation is of the modes found here to those on the Lagrangian reduction of Mukhanov, Feldman, and Brandenberger. It also adds an appendix in which it is made clear that a gauge fixing can be found so that the long wavelength changes to the second order metric variations is arbitrary (including zero)

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