- Letter
- Open Access
Nonlinear stability of the matter-dominated universe
Phys. Rev. D 114, L081501 – Published 5 October, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/t92p-mhpw
Abstract
We numerically study nonlinear perturbations of the Einstein-de Sitter spacetime as a solution to the Gowdy-symmetric Einstein-Euler system for a polytropic equation of state. The results suggest that the Einstein-de Sitter spacetime is stable for sufficiently small but otherwise generic perturbations. This is in stark contrast to the well-known instability of this spacetime when the matter model is dust. Moreover, this indicates a previously unknown stable regime of the Einstein-Euler equations with direct implications for cosmology.
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