Evolution of curvature and structure scalars during dissipative gravitational collapse of compact spheres

Abstract We investigate the evolution of the spacetime curvature and structure scalars during a non-adiabatic, anisotropic gravitational collapse process associated with an unstable neutron star. Included in the study are the invariant epoch functions composed of the Weyl, Ricci and Kretschmann scalars. Earlier qualitative findings are confirmed regarding these epoch functions, indicating that the specification of a gravitational arrow of time is in an opposite sense to these quantities. Since conformally flat spacetimes are excluded, new invariants might be considered in such cases. The composite scalar functions, including all curvature and structure scalars, may also serve as a fingerprint for a particular model for comparison with other models of relativistic gravitational systems.