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The speciality index as invariant indicator in the BKL mixmaster dynamics*

Christian Cherubini1,2,3, Donato Bini2,4,5, Marco Bruni3 and Zoltan Perjes6

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The long-standing difficulty in general relativity of classifying the dynamics of cosmological models, e.g. as chaotic, is directly related to the gauge freedom intrinsic to relativistic spacetime theories: in general the invariance under diffeomorphisms makes any analysis of dynamical evolution dependent on the particular choice of time slicing one uses. We show here that the speciality index, a scalar dimensionless curvature invariant that has been mainly used in numerical relativity as an indicator of the special or non-special Petrov-type character of a spacetime, is a time-independent quantity (a pure number) at each Kasner step of the Belinski–Khalatnikov–Lifshitz (BKL) map approximating the mixmaster cosmology. Thus the BKL dynamics can be characterized in terms of the speciality index, i.e. in terms of curvature invariants directly related to observables. Possible applications for the associated mixmaster dynamics are discussed.


Footnote
*  During the revision of this paper, we were saddened by the news of the death of our coauthor Zoltan Perjes. We would like to remember him here as a wonderful human being with undiminished enthusiasm for engaging younger colleagues in discussing a broad range of problems in gravitational physics.
PACS

04.20.-q Classical general relativity

05.45.-a Nonlinear dynamics and nonlinear dynamical systems

98.80.-k Cosmology

04.25.D- Numerical relativity

MSC

83C25 Approximation procedures, weak fields

83C05 Einstein's equations (general structure, canonical formalism, Cauchy problems)

83C35 Gravitational waves

83F05 Cosmology

Subjects

Gravitation and cosmology

Statistical physics and nonlinear systems

Astrophysics and astroparticles

Dates

Issue 9 (7 May 2005)

Received 13 August 2004, in final form 11 February 2005

Published 12 April 2005



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