Jorrie said:
Yea, for simplicity and given that S = z+1 = 1/a, I'm a little biased towards basing everything on
H^2 = 1 + 0.443 S^3 and t = \ln(\frac{H+1}{H-1})/3
probably because that's the way I started my Blog entry. I actually shied away from the hyperbolic functions as far as possible because they do not come naturally to my niche readership. We discussed this briefly in
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/from-aeon-to-zeon-simplifying-the-standard-cosmic-model.811718/page-3#post-5121465.
Values like proper distances might require integration, but that (I think) is unavoidable. Quite a few of the exercises that you mentioned requires only the two equations above.
Hi Jorrie, I put the exponent on the H
2 in the quote. I'm often forgetting to square the H and things like that but fortunately we can go back and edit. Your judgement about style and notation has been a guide to me recently, about using zeit and e-fold and keeping terminology simple.
Also your understanding of what communicates to that particular audience.
Maybe we should develop two versions, one avoiding the hyperbolic sine (and the 2/3 power) and one employing it.
The two equations you like are remarkably versatile, and the one expressing H as a function of S
2 is just what we need to do the integral for distance D
now based on an observable quantity S. That simplifies the exposition. We don't observe time, we observe the stretch S.
On the other hand the curve of expansion history a(t) is intuitively appealing to some newcomers (not the engineers necessarily, maybe another niche). Because they have been wondering about it. What is this expansion I've been hearing about? What is this "acceleration" they talk about?
and the a(t) curve shows it. So it has that plus, to balance the off-putting strangeness of the hyperbolic function. Maybe there should be both.
How if you push ahead with a "4engineers" version? Maybe replace "doubling" by "e-fold time" in part A, and show them some graphs with LightconeZeit, as per part B? Add one or two sample problems if you feel like it? You could make a development thread here at PF which would allow Wabbit and me to comment and help, if you want. And transfer to your blog later. Or build it there,
in situ, if you prefer.