Rewinding the Void: How One Solution of Einstein's Field Equations Describes Both the Birth of a Universe and the End of Time

Abstract

The type D Kasner vacuum solution of general relativity is reviewed, highlighting the little-known, intriguing property that it can describe both an anisotropic cosmology and the spacetime deep within a black hole, these two descriptions linked by a reversal of the time-ordering of the solution. The flexible nature of solutions of Einstein's equations is emphasised, and a brief discussion of the arrow of time in modern physics is presented.