Implications of Symmetry and Pressure in Friedmann Cosmology. I. Formalism

Abstract We show that derivation of Friedmann’s equations from the Einstein–Hilbert action, paying attention to the requirements of isotropy and homogeneity during the variation, leads to a different interpretation of pressure than what is typically adopted. Our derivation follows if we assume that the unapproximated metric and Einstein tensor have convergent perturbation series representations on a sufficiently large Robertson–Walker coordinate patch. We find the source necessarily averages all pressures, everywhere, including the interiors of compact objects. We demonstrate that our considerations apply (on appropriately restricted spacetime domains) to the Kerr solution, the Schwarzschild constant-density sphere, and the static de-Sitter sphere. From conservation of stress–energy, it follows that material contributing to the averaged pressure must shift locally in energy. We show that these cosmological energy shifts are entirely negligible for non-relativistic material. In relativistic material, however, the effect can be significant. We comment on the implications of this study for the dark energy problem.