Global foliations of matter spacetimes with Gowdy symmetry (Q1961079)

The author investigates spacetimes \((M,g)\) with isometry group \(G = S^1 \times S^1\) whose action is polar, i.e. any point of \(M\) lies in a totally geodesic submanifold \(\Sigma\) which intersects each \(G\)-orbit perpendicularly, and all these submanifolds are isometric under \(G\) (``Gowdy symmetry''). Moreover the author assumes that \(\Sigma\) is diffeomorphic to \(I \times S^1\) for some interval \(I\). The spacetime is filled with particles moving without collisions in all possible directions along geodesics. These massive particles determine the energy-momentum tensor and hence (via the Einstein equation) the Ricci curvature of \(M\). The distribution of the particles is given by a \(G\)-invariant density function \(f\) on the timelike unit tangent bundle of \(M\), and \(f\) propagates along the geodesic flow by the Vlasov equation. The main result of the paper (cf. p. 344) is a global existence theorem for the corresponding Cauchy problem: For arbitrary initial values on a spacelike \(G\)-invariant hypersurface diffeomorphic to the 3-torus, the combined Einstein-Vlasov PDE for \((g,f)\) has an inextendible globally hyperbolic solution with \(\Sigma = (c,\infty) \times S^1\) for some \(c \geq 0\) where the time coordinate \(t \in (c,\infty)\) at any point \((t,\theta) \in \Sigma\) is precisely the area of the \(G\)-orbit through \((t,\theta)\) (areal coordinates). In particular, any past directed inextendible world line has no continuation beyond the time \(t = c\). The necessary estimates in past directions are carried out in different coordinates \((\tau,\theta)\) on \(\Sigma\) which are conformally flat, i.e. the metric \(g\) on \(\Sigma\) is proportional to \(-d\tau^2 + d\theta^2\) (conformal coordinates).