M. Govender

RADIATING COLLAPSE WITH VANISHING WEYL STRESSES

In a recent approach in modeling a radiating relativistic star undergoing gravitational collapse the role of the Weyl stresses was emphasized. It is possible to generate a model which is physically reasonable by approximately solving the junction conditions at the boundary of the star. In this paper we demonstrate that it is possible to solve the Einstein field equations and the junction conditions exactly. This exact solution contains the Friedmann dust solution as a limiting case. We briefly consider the radiative transfer within the framework of extended irreversible thermodynamics and show that relaxational effects significantly alter the temperature profiles.

Thermal evolution of a radiating anisotropic star with shear

We study the effects of pressure anisotropy and heat dissipation in a spherically symmetric radiating star undergoing gravitational collapse. An exact solution of the Einstein field equations is presented in which the model has a Friedmann-like limit when the heat flux vanishes. The behavior of the temperature profile of the evolving star is investigated within the framework of causal thermodynamics. In particular, we show that there are significant differences between the relaxation time for the heat flux and the relaxation time for the shear stress.

The role of shear in dissipative gravitational collapse

In this paper, we investigate the physics of a radiating star undergoing dissipative collapse in the form of a radial heat flux. Our treatment clearly demonstrates how the presence of shear affects the collapse process; we are in a position to contrast the physical features of the collapsing sphere in the presence of shear with the shear-free case. By employing a causal heat transport equation of the Maxwell–Cattaneo form we show that the shear leads to an enhancement of the core temperature thus emphasizing that relaxational effects cannot be ignored when the star leaves hydrostatic equilibrium.

Radiating stars with generalised Vaidya atmospheres

We model the gravitational behaviour of a radiating star when the exterior geometry is the generalised Vaidya spacetime. The interior matter distribution is shear-free and undergoing radial heat flow. The exterior energy momentum tensor is a superposition of a null fluid and a string fluid. An analysis of the junction conditions at the stellar surface shows that the pressure at the boundary depends on the interior heat flux and the exterior string density. The results for a relativistic radiating star undergoing nonadiabatic collapse are obtained as a special case. For a particular model we demonstrate that the radiating fluid sphere collapses without the appearance of the horizon at the boundary.

NONADIABATIC SPHERICAL COLLAPSE WITH A TWO-FLUID ATMOSPHERE

In this paper, we present an exact model of a spherically symmetric star undergoing dissipative collapse in the form of a radial heat flux. The interior of the star is matched smoothly to the generalized Vaidya line element representing a two-fluid atmosphere comprising null radiation and a string fluid. The influence of the string density on the thermal behavior of the model is investigated by employing a causal heat transport equation of Maxwell–Cattaneo form.