On the Physical Properties of the Plane Symmetric Self-Similar Solution

Abstract

This paper discusses some of the physical properties of plane symmetric self-similar solutions of the first kind (i.e., homothetic solutions). We are interested in calculating the expansion, the acceleration, the rotation, the shear tensor, the shear invariant, and the expansion rate (given by Raychaudhuri's equation). We check these properties both in co-moving and non-co-moving coordinates (only in the radial direction). Further, the singularity structure of such solutions will be explored. This analysis provides some interesting features of self-similar solutions.