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Cosmic expansion history
The expansion of the universe is parametrized by a scale factor $$a(t)$$ which is defined relative to the present day, so $$a_0 = 1 $$; the usual convention in cosmology is that subscript 0 denotes present-day values. In general relativity, $$a$$ is related to the observed redshift: by


 * $$a(t_{em}) \equiv (1+z(t_{em}))^{-1}\!$$

where $$ t_{em} $$ is the age of the universe at the time the photons were emitted. The time-dependent Hubble parameter, $$H(a)$$ is defined as:
 * $$H(a) \equiv \frac{\dot a}{a}\!$$

where $$\dot a$$ is the time-derivative of the scale factor. The first of two Friedmann equations gives the expansion rate in terms of the the matter+radiation density $$\rho\!$$, the curvature, $$k$$, and the cosmological constant, $$\Lambda\!$$:
 * $$H^2 = \left(\frac{\dot{a}}{a}\right)^2 = \frac{8 \pi G}{3} \rho - \frac{kc^2}{a^2} + \frac{\Lambda c^2}{3}$$

where $$G$$ is the usual gravitational constant. From the Friedmann equations it follows that there is a critical mass-energy density $$ \rho_{crit} $$ giving zero curvature; historically, if dark energy were zero, this would also be the dividing line between eventual recollapse of the universe to a Big Crunch, or unlimited expansion. In the Lambda-CDM model the universe is predicted to expand forever regardless of whether the total density is slightly above or below the critical density, though this may not apply if dark energy is actually time-dependent.

The critical density is given by
 * $$\rho_{crit} = \frac{3 H^2}{8 \pi G} = 1.88 \times 10^{-26} h^2 \text{ kg m}^{-3} $$

where the reduced Hubble constant, h, is defined as $$ h = H_0 / (100 \text{ km/s/Mpc}) $$; it is standard to define the present-day density parameter $$\Omega_x$$ for various species as the dimensionless ratio
 * $$\Omega_x \equiv \frac{\rho_x}{\rho_{crit} } = \frac{8 \pi G\rho_x(t=t_0)}{3 H_0^2}$$

where the subscript x is one of c for cold dark matter, b for baryons, rad for radiation (photons plus relativistic neutrinos), and DE or $$\Lambda$$ for dark energy.

Since the densities of various species scale as different powers of $$a$$, e.g. $$a^{-3}$$ for matter etc, the Friedmann equation can be conveniently rewritten in terms of the various density parameters as
 * $$H(a) \equiv \frac{\dot{a}}{a} = H_0 \sqrt{ \left [ (\Omega_c + \Omega_b) a^{-3} + \Omega_{rad} a^{-4} + \Omega_k a^{-2} + \Omega_{DE} a^{-3(1+w)} \right ]} $$

where w is the equation of state of dark energy, and assuming negligible neutrino mass (significant neutrino mass requires a more complex equation). The various $$ \Omega $$ parameters add up to 1 by construction. In the general case this is integrated by computer to give the expansion history a(t) and also observable distance-redshift relations for any chosen values of the cosmological parameters, which can then be compared with observations such as supernovae and baryon acoustic oscillations.

In the minimal 6-parameter LambdaCDM model, it is assumed that curvature $$\Omega_k$$ is zero and $$ w = -1 $$, so this simplifies to
 * $$ H(a) = H_0 \sqrt{ \left [ \Omega_m a^{-3} + \Omega_{rad} a^{-4} + \Omega_\Lambda \right ] } $$

Observations show that the radiation density is very small today, $$ \Omega_{rad} \sim 10^{-4} $$; if this term is neglected the above has an analytic solution
 * $$ a(t) = (\Omega_m / \Omega_{\Lambda})^{1/3} \, \sinh^{2/3} ( t / t_{\Lambda}) $$

where $$ t_\Lambda \equiv 2 / (3 H_0 \sqrt{\Omega_\Lambda} ) \ ; $$ this is fairly accurate for a > 0.01 or t > 10 Myr. Solving for $$ a(t) = 1 $$ gives the present age of the universe $$ t_0 $$ in terms of the other parameters.

It follows that the transition from decelerating to accelerating expansion (the second derivative $$ \ddot{a} $$ crossing zero) occurred when
 * $$ a = ( \Omega_m / 2 \Omega_\Lambda )^{1/3}$$

which evaluates to a ~ 0.6 or z ~ 0.66 for the Planck best-fit parameters.

Distribution of dark matter
The exact distribution of dark matter is challenging to map in fine detail. Since gravity is a long-range force, observations such as galaxy rotation curves and weak lensing only probe the integrated distribution of dark matter over substantial volumes of space. In many cases the tests are statistical in nature; starting from initial conditions estimated from the cosmic microwave background, large N-body simulations can be used to model the growth of density fluctuations forward in time, and thus predict the statistical properties of the dark matter distribution today. For the case of cold dark matter, these simulations predict that in dense regions such as galaxies and clusters, the dark matter is distributed in slightly non-spherical halos with typical asphericity around 20 percent, and the density profile of each halo follows a fitting formula known as theNFW profile (named after Navarro, Frenk and White).

Dark matter is estimated to make a relatively small contribution in the solar neighbourhood (e.g. within 50 - 100 parsecs from the Sun); the density of dark matter in this region is generally estimated as 0.2 - 0.4 GeV / cm3. A common benchmark value adopted for dark matter direct-detection experiments is 0.3 GeV/cm3; this converts to $$ 0.0079 M_\odot / pc^3$$, which is only around 8 percent of the local density in visible stars, stellar remnants and gas of $$ \approx 0.1 M_\odot / pc^3 $$. This is broadly as expected from theory, since much of the baryonic matter in our Galaxy has lost energy by collisions and photon emission and settled into a thin rotating disk, while the dark matter is in a roughly spherical configuration.

On Galactic scales, dark matter is estimated to contribute approximately half of the total mass inside a sphere (8 kpc radius) centred on our Galactic centre and passing through the Sun. This fraction is slightly uncertain since the baryonic mass in this volume is not known very precisely, due to dust extinction and the contribution of very faint low-mass stars. Moving further out, the density of baryonic matter declines much faster than dark matter; it is estimated that the "total" Milky Way mass (within an outer radius ~ 250 kpc) is between $$ 1 - 2 \times 10^{12}M_\odot $$, of which a large majority (around 95 percent) is dark matter.