Weakly regular \(T^2\)-symmetric spacetimes. The global geometry of future Cauchy developments (Q2350334)

In this paper, the authors examine \({\text{ U}}(1)\times{\text{ U}}(1)\) symmetric weakly regular \(3\) dimensional initial data sets for the vacuum Einstein's equation. The authors prove a well-posedness theorem for initial data sets of this kind (Theorem 1.1) and an existence theorem for their solvability (Theorem 1.2). They also establish an appropriate uniqueness result (Theorem 8.3). \({\text{ U}}(1)\times{\text{ U}}(1)\) symmetry means that the underlying smooth \(3\)-manifold admits a smooth fixed-point-free \(2\)-torus action and the initial data are invariant under this action. From this it is easy to show, and is assumed in the paper, that if the \(3\)-manifold is compact then it must be diffeomorphic to the \(3\)-torus. Weak regularity here roughly means that the function on the underlying \(3\)-manifold which assigns to a \(2\)-torus-orbit its volume is Lipschitz continuous moreover the coefficients of the tensor fields appearing in the initial data set belong to the Sobolev space \(H^1\) or have even lower regularity (for a precise definition of ``weak regularity'' in this case, cf. Section 2 of the paper). The necessity of considering only weakly regular initial data sets (compared e.g. to smooth ones) is also motivated from a physical viewpoint in the text. By the non-linear and hyperbolic nature of the Einstein's field equation, regular initial data often evolve into less regular ones (cf. the presence of singularities in impulsive gravitational wave space-times or the formation of shock waves in the case of relativistic fluids).