Spherical dust fluctuations: The exact versus the perturbative approach

Abstract

We examine the relation between the dynamics of Lema\^{\i}tre--Tolman--Bondi (LTB) dust models (with and without $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$) and the dynamics of dust perturbations in two of the more familiar formalisms used in cosmology: the metric based cosmological perturbation theory (CPT) and the covariant gauge invariant (GIC) perturbations. For this purpose we recast the evolution of LTB models in terms of a covariant and gauge invariant formalism of local and nonlocal ``exact fluctuations'' on a Friedmann--Lema\^{\i}tre--Robertson--Walker (FLRW) background defined by suitable averages of covariant scalars. We examine the properties of these fluctuations, which can be defined for a confined comoving domain or for an asymptotic domain extending to whole time slices. In particular, the nonlocal density fluctuation provides a covariant and precise definition for the notion of the ``density contrast.'' We show that in their linear regime these LTB exact fluctuations (local and nonlocal) are fully equivalent to the conventional cosmological perturbations in the synchronous-comoving gauge of CPT and to GIC perturbations. As an immediate consequence, we show the time-invariance of the spatial curvature perturbation in a simple form. The present work may provide important theoretical connections between the exact and perturbative (linear or nonlinear) approach to the dynamics of dust sources in general relativity.