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.

Einstein's field equations are a system of ten partial differential equations. For a special class of spacetimes known as Gowdy spacetimes, the number of equations is reduced due to additional structure of two dimensional isometry groups with mutually orthogonal Killing vectors. In this thesis, we focus on a particular model of Gowdy spacetimes known as the polarized T3 model, and provide an explicit solution to Einstein's equations.

This thesis consists of three articles investigating the asymptotic behaviour of cosmological spacetimes with symmetries arising in Mathematical General Relativity. In Paper A and B, we consider spacetimes with Bianchi symmetry and where the matter model is that of a perfect fluid. We investigate the behaviour of such spacetimes close to the initial singularity ('Big Bang'). In Paper A, we prove that the Strong Cosmic Censorship conjecture holds in non-exceptional Bianchi class B spacetimes. Using expansion-normalised variables, we further show detailed asymptotic estimates. In Paper B, we prove similar estimates in the case of stiff fluids. In Paper C, we consider T2-symmetric spacetimes satisfying the Einstein equations for a non-linear scalar field. To given initial data, we show global existence and uniqueness of solutions to the corresponding differential equations for all future times. In the special case of a constant potential, a setting which is equivalent to a linear scalar field on a background with a positive cosmological constant, we investigate in detail the asymptotic behaviour towards the future. We prove that the Cosmic No-Hair conjecture holds for solutions satisfying an additional a priori estimate, an estimate which we show to hold in T3-Gowdy symmetry. / Denna avhandling består av tre artiklar som undersöker det asymptotiska beteendet hos kosmologiska rumstider med symmetrier som uppstår i Matematisk Allmän Relativitetsteori. I Artikel A och B studerar vi rumstider med Bianchi symmetri och där materiemodellen är en ideal fluid. Vi undersöker beteendet av sådana rumstider nära ursprungssingulariteten ('Big Bang'). I Artikel A bevisar vi att den Starka Kosmiska Censur-förmodan håller för icke-exceptionella Bianchi klass B-rumstider. Med hjälp av expansions-normaliserade variabler visar vi detaljerade asymptotiska uppskattningar. I Artikel B visar vi liknande uppskattningar för stela fluider. I Artikel C betraktar vi T2-symmetriska rumstider som uppfyller Einsteins ekvationer för ett icke-linjärt skalärfält. För givna begynnelsedata visar vi global existens och entydighet av lösningar till motsvarande differentialekvationer för all framtid. I det speciella fallet med en konstant potential, en situation som motsvarar ett linjärt skalärfält på en bakgrund med en positiv kosmologisk konstant, undersöker vi i detalj det asymptotiska beteendet mot framtiden. Vi visar att den Kosmiska Inget-Hår-förmodan håller för lösningar som uppfyller en ytterligare a priori uppskattning, en uppskattning som vi visar gäller i T3-Gowdy-symmetri. / <p>QC 20171220</p>