We consider the instability of the Friedmann world model to second order in perturbations. We present the perturbed set of equations up to second order in the Friedmann background world model with a general spatial curvature and cosmological constant. We consider systems with completely general imperfect fluids, minimally coupled scalar fields, an electromagnetic field, and generalized gravity theories. We also present the case of null geodesic equations, and one based on the relativistic Boltzmann equation. In due time, a decomposition is made for scalar-, vector-, and tensor-type perturbations which couple with each other to second order. A gauge issue is resolved to each order. The basic equations are presented without imposing any gauge condition, and thus in a gauge-ready form so that we can take full advantage of having gauge freedom in analyzing the problems. As an application we show that to second order in perturbation the relativistic pressureless ideal fluid of the scalar type reproduces exactly the known Newtonian result. As another application we rederive the large-scale conserved quantities ͑of the pure scalar and tensor perturbations͒ to second order, first shown by Salopek and Bond, now from the exact equations. Several other applications are shown as well.

We present cosmological perturbation theory based on generalized gravity theories including string theory correction terms and a tachyonic complication. The classical evolution as well as the quantum generation processes in these variety of gravity theories are presented in unified forms. These apply both to the scalar-and tensor-type perturbations. Analyses are made based on the curvature variable in two different gauge conditions often used in the literature in Einstein's gravity; these are the curvature variables in the comoving (or uniform-field) gauge and the zero-shear gauge. Applications to generalized slow-roll inflations and its consequent power spectra are derived in unified forms which include wide range of inflationary scenarios based on Einstein's gravity and others.

We analyze the cosmological perturbations valid in a broad class of generalized gravity theories in a unified manner. A complete set of perturbation equations is derived in gauge-ready forms. We present general asymptotic solutions for several different choices of the gauge conditions in unified forms. As in the case of Einstein's gravity, the uniform-curvature gauge is particularly simple for treating the scalar-type perturbations in generalized gravity theories involving the scalar field and the scalar curvature. Remarkably, considering the growing mode in the uniform-curvature gauge, the same solutions derived in Einstein's gravity remain valid in a broad class of generalized gravity theories. ͓S0556-2821͑96͒06012-2͔PACS number͑s͒: 04.50.ϩh, 04.62.ϩv, 98.80.Hw

We present unified ways of handling the cosmological perturbations in a class of gravity theory covered by a general action in eq. (1). This gravity includes our previous generalized f (φ, R) gravity and the gravity theory motivated by the tachyonic condensation. We present general prescription to derive the power spectra generated from vacuum quantum fluctuations in the slow-roll inflation era. An application is made to a slow-roll inflation based on the tachyonic condensation with an exponential potential.PACS numbers: 04.62.+v, 98.80.Cq, 98.80.Hw * * The procedure is exactly the same as the one used to derive eqs. (32,33) in [9].

We consider evolutions of linear fluctuations as the background Friedmann world model goes from contracting to expanding phases through smooth and non-singular bouncing phases. As long as the gravity dominates over the pressure gradient in the perturbation equation the growing-mode in the expanding phase is characterized by a conserved amplitude, we call it a C-mode. In the spherical geometry with a pressureless medium, we show that there exists a special gauge-invariant combination Φ which stays constant throughout the evolution from the big-bang to the big-crunch with the same value even after the bounce: it characterizes the coefficient of the C-mode. We show this result by using a bounce model where the pressure gradient term is negligible during the bounce; this requires additional presence of an exotic matter. In such a bounce, even in more general situations of the equation of states before and after the bounce, the C-mode in the expanding phase is affected only by the C-mode in the contracting phase, thus the growing mode in the contracting phase decays away as the world model enters expanding phase. In the case the background curvature has significant role during the bounce, the pressure gradient term becomes important and we cannot trace C-mode in the expanding phase to the one before the bounce. In such situations, perturbations in a fluid bounce model show exponential instability, whereas the ones in a scalar field bounce model show oscillatory behaviors.