v 1 8 O ct 1 99 9 The Structure of the Extreme Schwarzschild – de Sitter Space - time

The extreme Schwarzschild–de Sitter space-time is a spherically symmetric solution of Einstein's equations with a cosmological constant Λ and mass parameter m > 0 which is characterized by the condition that 9Λm 2 = 1. The global structure of this space-time is here analyzed in detail. Conformal and embedding diagrams are constructed, and synchronous coordinates which are suitable for a discussion of the cosmic no-hair conjecture are presented. The permitted geodesic motions are also analyzed. By a careful investigation of the geodesics and the equations of geodesic deviation, it is shown that specific families of observers escape from falling into the singularity and approach nonsingular asymptotic regions which are represented by special " points " in the complete conformal diagram. The redshift of signals emitted by particles which fall into the singularity, as detected by those observers which escape, is also calculated.