Dynamical systems approach to G(2) cosmology

Jul, 2001
27 pages
Published in:
  • Class.Quant.Grav. 19 (2002) 51-82
e-Print:
Report number:
  • QMUL-AU-2001-008

Citations per year

200120072013201920250123456
Abstract: (arXiv)
In this paper we present a new approach for studying the dynamics of spatially inhomogeneous cosmological models with one spatial degree of freedom. By introducing suitable scale-invariant dependent variables we write the evolution equations of the Einstein field equations as a system of autonomous partial differential equations in first-order symmetric hyperbolic format, whose explicit form depends on the choice of gauge. As a first application, we show that the asymptotic behaviour near the cosmological initial singularity can be given a simple geometrical description in terms of the local past attractor on the boundary of the scale-invariant dynamical state space. The analysis suggests the name ``asymptotic silence'' to describe the evolution of the gravitational field near the cosmological initial singularity.