Penrose limits and spacetime singularities

TY - JOUR

T1 - Penrose limits and spacetime singularities

AU - Blau, M

AU - Borunda, M

AU - O'Loughlin, M

AU - Papadopoulos, G

PY - 2004/4/7

Y1 - 2004/4/7

N2 - We give a covariant characterization of the Penrose plane wave limit: the plane wave profile matrix A(u) is the restriction of the null geodesic deviation matrix (curvature tensor) of the original spacetime metric to the null geodesic, evaluated in a comoving frame. We also consider the Penrose limits of spacetime singularities and show that for a large class of black hole, cosmological and null singularities (of Szekeres-lyer 'power-law type'), including those of the FRW and Schwarzschild metrics, the result is a singular homogeneous plane wave with profile A(u) similar to u(-2), the scale invariance of the latter reflecting the power-law behaviour of the singularities.

AB - We give a covariant characterization of the Penrose plane wave limit: the plane wave profile matrix A(u) is the restriction of the null geodesic deviation matrix (curvature tensor) of the original spacetime metric to the null geodesic, evaluated in a comoving frame. We also consider the Penrose limits of spacetime singularities and show that for a large class of black hole, cosmological and null singularities (of Szekeres-lyer 'power-law type'), including those of the FRW and Schwarzschild metrics, the result is a singular homogeneous plane wave with profile A(u) similar to u(-2), the scale invariance of the latter reflecting the power-law behaviour of the singularities.

U2 - 10.1088/0264-9381/21/7/L02

DO - 10.1088/0264-9381/21/7/L02

M3 - Letter

VL - 21

SP - L43 - L49

JO - Classical and Quantum Gravity

JF - Classical and Quantum Gravity

IS - 7

ER -