Since the discovery of the accelerated expansion of the universe, it was necessary to introduce a new component of matter distribution called dark energy. The standard cosmological model considers isotropy of the pressure and assumes an equation of state p = ωρ, relating the pressure p and the energy density ρ. The interval of the parameter ω defines the kind of matter of the universe, related to the fulfillment, or not, of the energy conditions of the fluid. The recent interest in this kind of fluid with anisotropic pressure, in the scenario of the gravitational collapse and star formation, imposes a carefull analysis of the energy conditions and the role of the components of the pressure. Here, in this work, we show an example where the classification of dark energy for isotropic pressure fluids is used incorrectly for anisotropic fluids. The correct classification and its consequences are presented. * Electronic address: chan@on.br † Electronic address: mfasnic@gmail.com ‡ Electronic address: jaime@mast.br

We study the evolution of an anisotropic fluid with kinematic self-similarity of the second kind. We found a class of solution to the Einstein field equations by assuming an equation of state where the radial pressure of the fluid is proportional to its energy density (pr = ωρ) and that the fluid moves along time-like geodesics. The self-similarity requires ω = -1. The energy conditions, geometrical and physical properties of the solutions are studied. We have found that, depending on the self-similar parameter α, they may represent a black hole or a naked singularity.

We study space–times having spherically symmetric anisotropic fluid with self-similarity of zeroth kind. We find a class of solutions to the Einstein field equations by assuming a shear-free metric and that the fluid moves along time-like geodesics. The energy conditions, and geometrical and physical properties of the solutions are studied and we find that it can be considered as representing an accelerating universe. At the beginning all the energy conditions were fulfilled but beyond a certain time (a maximum geometrical radius) none of them is satisfied, characterizing a transition from normal matter (dark matter, baryon matter and radiation) to dark energy.

Considering the evolution of a perfect fluid with self-similarity of the second kind, we have found that an initial naked singularity can be trapped by an event horizon due to collapsing matter.The fluid moves along time-like geodesics with a self-similar parameter α = −3. Since the metric obtained is not asymptotically flat, we match the spacetime of the fluid with a Schwarzschild spacetime. All the energy conditions are fulfilled until the naked singularity.

We present in this work the study of the linear perturbations of the 2 + 1-dimensional circularly symmetric solution, obtained in a previous work, with kinematic self-similarity of the second kind. We have obtained an exact solution for the perturbation equations and the possible perturbation modes. We have shown that the background solution is a stable solution.