Relativistic-Newtonian correspondence of the zero pressure but weakly nonlinear cosmology

Abstract

It is well known that couplings occur among the scalar-, vector- and tensor-type perturbations of the Friedmann world model in the second perturbational order. Here, we prove that, except for the gravitational wave contribution, the relativistic zero-pressure irrotational fluid perturbed to second order in a flat Friedmann background coincides exactly with the Newtonian result. Since we include the cosmological constant, our results are relevant to currently favoured cosmology. As we prove that the Newtonian hydrodynamic equations are valid in all cosmological scales to the second order, our result has an important practical implication that one can now use the large-scale Newtonian numerical simulation more reliably even as the simulation scale approaches and even goes beyond the horizon. That is, our discovery shows that, in the zero-pressure case, except for the gravitational wave contribution, there are no relativistic correction terms even near and beyond the horizon to the second-order perturbation.