A dynamical symmetry of the spherical dust collapse

Abstract

By linearly scaling the initial data set (mass and kinetic energy functions) together with the initial area radius of a collapsing dust sphere, we find a symmetry of the collapse dynamics. That is, the linear transformation defines an equivalence class of data sets which lead to the same end result as well as its evolution all through. In particular, the density and shear remain invariant initially as well as during the collapse. What the transformation is exhibiting is an interesting scaling relationship between mass, kinetic energy and the size of the collapsing dust sphere.