An exact smooth Gowdy-symmetric generalized Taub-NUT solution

Abstract

In a recent paper (Beyer and Hennig 2012 Class. Quantum Grav. 29 245017), we have introduced a class of inhomogeneous cosmological models: the smooth Gowdy-symmetric generalized Taub-NUT solutions. Here we derive a three-parametric family of exact solutions within this class, which contains the two-parametric Taub solution as a special case. We also study properties of this solution. In particular, we show that for a special choice of the parameters, the spacetime contains a curvature singularity with directional behaviour that can be interpreted as a 'true spike' in analogy to previously known Gowdy-symmetric solutions with spatial -topology. For other parameter choices, the maximal globally hyperbolic region is singularity-free, but may contain 'false spikes'. © 2014 IOP Publishing Ltd.