Second-order effective energy-momentum tensor of gravitational scalar perturbations with perfect fluid

We investigate the second-order gravitational scalar perturbations for a barotropic fluid. We derive the effective energy-momentum tensor described by the quadratic terms of the gravitational and the matter perturbations. We show that the second-order effective energy-momentum tensor is gauge dependent. We impose three gauge conditions (longitudinal, spatially flat, and comoving gauges) for radiation and dust. The resulting energy-momentum tensor is described only by a gauge-invariant variable, but the functional form depends on the gauge choice. In the matter-dominated epoch with dustlike fluid background, the second-order effective energy density and pressure of the perturbations evolve as 1 /a² in all three gauge choices, like the curvature density of the Universe, but they do not provide the correct equation of state. The value of this parameter depends also on the gauge choice. In the radiation-dominated epoch, the perturbations in the short-wave limit behave in the same way as the radiationlike fluid in the longitudinal and the spatially flat gauges. However, they behave in a different way in the comoving gauge. As a whole, we conclude that the second-order effective energy-momentum tensor of the scalar perturbation is strictly gauge dependent.