In this note, we compare two different definitions for the cosmological perturbation $\zeta$ which is conserved on large scales, and study their non-conservation on small scales. We derive an equation for the time evolution of the curvature perturbation on a uniform density slice through a calculation solely in longitudinal (conformal-Newtonian) gauge. The result is concise and compatible with that obtained via local conservation of energy-momentum tensor.
Categories: gr-qc astro-ph.CO hep-ph hep-th