On level sets of Lorentzian distance function (Q1413792)

One of the key tools to analyze the geometry of the chronological future (or chronological past) of a point or an achronal spacelike hypersurface is the Lorentzian distance function with respect to the point or the hypersurface. In this paper, the authors study level sets of the Lorentzian distance function with respect to a point or achronal spacelike hypersurface. They can use their results to make predictions about the geometry of the far chronological future (or past). In particular: (1) For a point, they study the future mean curvatures of the level sets of the Lorentzian distance function by finding upper and lower bounds for them (allowing ``small violations'' of the strong energy condition) and obtain singularity theorems for certain spacetimes (assuming the strong energy condition); and (2) For an achronal spacelike hypersurface, they assume compactness of the hypersurface and global hyperbolicity of the spacetime to obtain differentiability of the Lorentzian distance function with respect to the hypersurface in a ``sufficiently near chronological future''. Then they use these results to make predictions about the geometry of the ``far chronological future''. In particular, they analyze the geometry by finding upper and lower bounds for future mean curvatures of the level sets, and finally obtain a local rigid singularity theorem for closed cosmological spacetimes.