On quasi-Einstein spacetimes

Abstract

The notion of quasi-Einstein manifolds arose during the study of exact solutions of the Einstein field equations as well as during considerations of quasi-umbilical hypersurfaces. For instance, the Robertson-Walker spacetimes are quasi-Einstein manifolds. The object of the present paper is to study quasi-Einstein spacetimes. Some basic geometric properties of such a spacetime are obtained. The applications of quasi-Einstein spacetimes in general relativity and cosmology are investigated. Finally, the existence of such spacetimes are ensured by several interesting examples.