The spherically symmetric Einstein-scalar field system with positive and vanishing cosmological constant: a comparison

Abstract

We review recent results concerning the spherically symmetric Einstein-scalar field system with positive cosmological constant. We do so by comparing with the classical results of Christodoulou concerning the asymptotically flat case (vanishing cosmological constant) and by discussing some of the issues which have emerged since the publication of our main results. Concerning the positive cosmological constant case, we also sketch an alternative proof of global in (Bondi) time existence, based on energy estimates, which is presumably more flexible and, consequently, amenable to generalizations; other potential improvements and generalizations of our main results are also discussed.