Related papers: An Invitation to Lorentzian Geometry
The singularity theorems of Penrose, Hawking, and Geroch predict the existence of incomplete inextendible causal geodesics in a wide range of physically adequate spacetimes modeling the gravitational collapse of stars and the expanding…
We establish a new CMC (constant mean curvature) existence result for cosmological spacetimes, i.e., globally hyperbolic spacetimes with compact Cauchy surfaces satisfying the strong energy condition. If the spacetime contains an expanding…
This article is a guide to the literature on existence theorems for the Einstein equations which also draws attention to open problems in the field. The local in time Cauchy problem, which is relatively well understood, is treated first.…
Some analysis on the Lorentzian distance in a spacetime with controlled sectional (or Ricci) curvatures is done. In particular, we focus on the study of the restriction of such distance to a spacelike hypersurface satisfying the Omori-Yau…
The geometric foundations of General Relativity are revisited, with particular attention to its gauge invariance, as a key to understanding the true nature of spacetime. Beyond the common image of spacetime as a deformable 'fabric' filling…
The Cauchy slicings for globally hyperbolic spacetimes and their relation with the causal boundary are surveyed and revisited, starting at the seminal conformal boundary constructions by R. Penrose. Our study covers: (1) adaptive…
As is well known, constant mean curvature (CMC) spacelike hypersurfaces play an important role in solving the Einstein equations, both in solving the contraints and the evolution equations. In this paper we review the CMC existence result…
Assuming minimal regularity assumptions on the data, we revisit the classical problem of finding isometric immersions into the Minkowski spacetime for hypersurfaces of a Lorentzian manifold. Our approach encompasses metrics having Sobolev…
We study a generalization of constant Gauss curvature -1 surfaces in Euclidean 3-space, based on Lorentzian harmonic maps, that we call pseudospherical frontals. We analyze the singularities of these surfaces, dividing them into those of…
Causal properties of Lorentzian symmetric spaces are investigated in the paper. The global hyperbolicity of the Cahen--Wallach Lorentzian symmetric spaces is proved.
After the heroic epoch of Causality Theory, problems concerning the smoothability of time functions and Cauchy hypersurfaces remained as unanswered folk questions. Just recently solved, our aim is to discuss the state of the art on this…
The causality structure of two-dimensional manifolds with degenerate metrics is analysed in terms of global solutions of the massless wave equation. Certain novel features emerge. Despite the absence of a traditional Lorentzian Cauchy…
In complex general relativity, Lorentzian space-time is replaced by a four-complex-dimensional complex-Riemannian manifold, with holomorphic connection and holomorphic curvature tensor. A multisymplectic analysis shows that the Hamiltonian…
This paper gives a detailed pedagogic presentation of the central concepts underlying a new algorithm for the numerical solution of Einstein's equations for gravitation. This approach incorporates the best features of the two leading…
In this paper we introduce the notion of timelike surface with harmonic inverse mean curvature in 3-dimensional Lorentzian space forms, and study their fundamental properties.
Fuchsian methods and their applications to the study of the structure of spacetime singularities are surveyed. The existence question for spacetimes with compact Cauchy horizons is discussed. After some basic facts concerning Fuchsian…
We introduce a concept of causality in the framework of generalized pseudo-Riemannian Geometry in the sense of J.F. Colombeau and establish the inverse Cauchy-Schwarz inequality in this context. As an application, we prove a dominant energy…
The aim of this survey is to give an overview on the geometry of Einstein maximal globally hyperbolic 2+1 spacetimes of arbitrary curvature, conatining a complete Cauchy surface of finite type. In particular a specialization to the finite…
The purpose of this article is to draw attention to some fundamental issues in General Relativity. It is argued that these deep issues cannot be resolved within the standard approach to general relativity that considers {\em every} solution…
Chernov-Nemirovski observed that the existence of a globally hyperbolic Lorentzian metric on a (3 + 1)-spacetime pins down a smooth structure on the underlying 4-manifold. In this paper, we point out that the diffeomorphism type of a…