The Magnetic Part of the Weyl Tensor, and the Expansion of Discrete Universes

Abstract

We examine the effect that the magnetic part of the Weyl tensor has on the large-scale expansion of space. This is done within the context of a class of cosmological models that contain regularly arranged discrete masses, rather than a continuous perfect fluid. The magnetic part of the Weyl tensor is included in these models by performing a Taylor series expansion about a hypersurface where it initially vanishes. At the same cosmological time, measured as a fraction of the age of the universe, we find that the influence of the magnetic part of the Weyl tensor increases as the number of masses in the universe is increased. We also find that the influence of the magnetic part of the Weyl tensor increases with time, relative to the leading-order electric part, so that its contribution to the scale of the universe can reach values of ~1%, before the Taylor series approximation starts to break down.