Second-order gauge invariant cosmological perturbation theory - Einstein equations in terms of gauge invariant variables

Following the general framework of the gauge invariant perturbation theory developed in the papers [K. Nakamura, Prog. Theor. Phys. 110 (2003), 723; ibid. 113 (2005), 481], we formulate second-order gauge invariant cosmological perturbation theory in a four-dimensional homogeneous isotropic universe. We consider perturbations both in the universe dominated by a single perfect fluid and in that dominated by a single scalar field. We derive all the components of the Einstein equations in the case that the first-order vector and tensor modes are negligible. All equations are derived in terms of gauge invariant variables without any gauge fixing. These equations imply that second-order vector and tensor modes may be generated due to the mode-mode coupling of the linear-order scalar perturbations. We also briefly discuss the main progress of this work through comparison with previous works.