On the Rigidity of Cosmological Space-times

TL;DR

This paper investigates the geometric rigidity of cosmological space-times with isotropic hypersurfaces, revealing that different definitions of isotropy lead to distinct classes, including models not isometric to standard FLRW universes.

Contribution

It clarifies the impact of different isotropy definitions on the rigidity properties of cosmological models, highlighting the broader class of SI space-times beyond FLRW.

Findings

Only space-time isometries yield classical rigidity results.

SI space-times form a larger class than STI, including non-FLRW models.

Some models exhibit curvature changes not compatible with FLRW geometry.

Abstract

In this paper we analyse a family of geometrically well-behaved cosmological space-times $(V^{n+1},g)$, which are foliated by intrinsically isotropic space-like hypersurfaces $\{M_t\}_{t\in \mathbb{R}}$, which are orthogonal to a family of co-moving observers defined by a global time-like vector field $U$. In particular, this implies such space-times satisfy several of the well-known criteria for isotropic cosmological space-times, although, in the family in question, the simultaneity-spaces $(M_t,g_t)$ associated to $U$ can have as sectional curvature a sign-changing function $k(t)$. Being this clearly impossible in the FLRW family of standard cosmological space-times, it motivates us to revisit the geometric rigidity consequences of different definitions of isotropy available in the literature. In this analysis, we divide such definition according to whether the isometries involved are taken to be (local) space-time (STI space-times) or (local) space isometries (SI space-times) of $(M_t,g_t)$ for each $t$. This subtlety will be shown to be critical, proving that only when space-time isometries are considered one obtains the well-known rigidity properties associated with isotropic cosmological space-times. In particular SI space-times will be shown to be a strictly larger class than the STI ones, allowing a family of basic cosmological curvature change models which are not even locally isometric to any FLRW space-time.