On mean curvature flow of spacelike hypersurfaces in asymptotically flat spacetimes

Abstract

AbstractWe prove a priori estimates for the gradient and curvature of spacelike hypersurfaces moving by mean curvature in a Lorentzian manifold. These estimates are obtained under much weaker conditions than have been previously assumed. We also use mean curvature flow in the construction of maximal slices in asymptotically flat spacetimes. An essential tool is a maximum principle for sub-solutions of a parabolic operator on complete Riemannian manifolds with time-dependent metric.