Conformally flat anisotropic spheres in general relativity

Abstract

The condition for the vanishing of the Weyl tensor is integrated in the spherically symmetric case. Then, the resulting expression is used to find new, conformally flat, interior solutions to Einstein equations for locally anisotropic fluids. The slow evolution of these models is contrasted with the evolution of models with similar energy density or radial pressure distribution but non-vanishing Weyl tensor, thereby bringing out the different role played by the Weyl tensor, the local anisotropy of pressure and the inhomogeneity of the energy density in the collapse of relativistic spheres.