Cosmological Spacetimes with $\Lambda >0$

Abstract

We discuss some global properties of cosmological spacetimes of de Sitter type, based on results with Lars Andersson obtained in hep-th/0202161. We relate the geometry and topology of conformal infinity to the occurrence of singularities in such spacetimes, thereby extending to a much broader context certain properties of some well-known cosmological models.

14 pages, 4 figures; based on a talk given at the Beemfest in May, 2003; to appear in Contemporary Mathematics