{"id":{"repo_id":"vcu","oai_identifier":"oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-2082"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vcu/oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-2082","repository":{"repo_id":"vcu","name":"Virginia Commonwealth University","base_url":"https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Approaching the Singularity in Gowdy Universes","abstract":"It has been shown that the cosmic censorship conjecture holds for polarized Gowdy spacetimes. In the more general, unpolarized case, however, the question remains open. It is known that cylindrically symmetric dust can collapse to form a naked singularity. Since Gowdy universes comprise gravitational waves that are locally cylindrically symmetric, perhaps these waves can collapse onto a symmetry axis and create a naked singularity. It is known that in the case of cylindrical symmetry, event horizons will not form under gravitational collapse, so the formation of a singularity on the symmetry axis would be a violation of the cosmic censorship conjecture.To search for cosmic censorship violation in Gowdy spacetimes, we must have a better understanding of their singularities. It is known that far from the symmetry axes, the spacetimes are asymptotically velocity term dominated, but this property is not known to hold near the axes. In this thesis, we take the first steps toward understanding on and near axis behavior of Gowdy spacetimes with space-sections that have the topology of the three-sphere. Null geodesic behavior on the symmetry axes is studied, and it is found that in some cases, a photon will wrap around the universe infinitely many times on its way back toward the initial singularity.","abstract_html":"It has been shown that the cosmic censorship conjecture holds for polarized Gowdy spacetimes. In the more general, unpolarized case, however, the question remains open. It is known that cylindrically symmetric dust can collapse to form a naked singularity. Since Gowdy universes comprise gravitational waves that are locally cylindrically symmetric, perhaps these waves can collapse onto a symmetry axis and create a naked singularity. It is known that in the case of cylindrical symmetry, event horizons will not form under gravitational collapse, so the formation of a singularity on the symmetry axis would be a violation of the cosmic censorship conjecture.To search for cosmic censorship violation in Gowdy spacetimes, we must have a better understanding of their singularities. It is known that far from the symmetry axes, the spacetimes are asymptotically velocity term dominated, but this property is not known to hold near the axes. In this thesis, we take the first steps toward understanding on and near axis behavior of Gowdy spacetimes with space-sections that have the topology of the three-sphere. Null geodesic behavior on the symmetry axes is studied, and it is found that in some cases, a photon will wrap around the universe infinitely many times on its way back toward the initial singularity.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Edmonds, Bartlett Douglas, Jr."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Physics","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Robert H. Gowdy"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2006,"date_issued":"2006-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2006-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:54:47Z","subjects":["gravity","axis","geodesic behavior","Sir Roger Penrose","Einstein","Theory of Relativity","Gowdy metric","Physical Sciences and Mathematics","Physics"],"languages":[],"rights":["© The Author"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1083"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1083","href":"https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1083","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://doi.org/10.25772/SEYF-SB51","outbound_label":"DOI","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Robert H. Gowdy"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Edmonds, Bartlett Douglas, Jr."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-07-09T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Physics"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["gravity","axis","geodesic behavior","Sir Roger Penrose","Einstein","Theory of Relativity","Gowdy metric","Physical Sciences and Mathematics","Physics"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© The Author"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://doi.org/10.25772/SEYF-SB51","https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1083"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["It has been shown that the cosmic censorship conjecture holds for polarized Gowdy spacetimes. In the more general, unpolarized case, however, the question remains open. It is known that cylindrically symmetric dust can collapse to form a naked singularity. Since Gowdy universes comprise gravitational waves that are locally cylindrically symmetric, perhaps these waves can collapse onto a symmetry axis and create a naked singularity. It is known that in the case of cylindrical symmetry, event horizons will not form under gravitational collapse, so the formation of a singularity on the symmetry axis would be a violation of the cosmic censorship conjecture.To search for cosmic censorship violation in Gowdy spacetimes, we must have a better understanding of their singularities. It is known that far from the symmetry axes, the spacetimes are asymptotically velocity term dominated, but this property is not known to hold near the axes. In this thesis, we take the first steps toward understanding on and near axis behavior of Gowdy spacetimes with space-sections that have the topology of the three-sphere. Null geodesic behavior on the symmetry axes is studied, and it is found that in some cases, a photon will wrap around the universe infinitely many times on its way back toward the initial singularity."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Approaching the Singularity in Gowdy Universes"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Robert H. Gowdy"],"dc:creator":["Edmonds, Bartlett Douglas, Jr."],"dc:date.available":["2014-07-09T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["It has been shown that the cosmic censorship conjecture holds for polarized Gowdy spacetimes. In the more general, unpolarized case, however, the question remains open. It is known that cylindrically symmetric dust can collapse to form a naked singularity. Since Gowdy universes comprise gravitational waves that are locally cylindrically symmetric, perhaps these waves can collapse onto a symmetry axis and create a naked singularity. It is known that in the case of cylindrical symmetry, event horizons will not form under gravitational collapse, so the formation of a singularity on the symmetry axis would be a violation of the cosmic censorship conjecture.To search for cosmic censorship violation in Gowdy spacetimes, we must have a better understanding of their singularities. It is known that far from the symmetry axes, the spacetimes are asymptotically velocity term dominated, but this property is not known to hold near the axes. In this thesis, we take the first steps toward understanding on and near axis behavior of Gowdy spacetimes with space-sections that have the topology of the three-sphere. Null geodesic behavior on the symmetry axes is studied, and it is found that in some cases, a photon will wrap around the universe infinitely many times on its way back toward the initial singularity."],"dc:identifier":["https://doi.org/10.25772/SEYF-SB51","https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1083"],"dc:rights":["© The Author"],"dc:subject":["gravity","axis","geodesic behavior","Sir Roger Penrose","Einstein","Theory of Relativity","Gowdy metric","Physical Sciences and Mathematics","Physics"],"dc:title":["Approaching the Singularity in Gowdy Universes"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Physics"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:54:47Z"}