Timelike and null focusing singularities in spherical symmetry: A solution to the cosmological horizon problem and a challenge to the cosmic censorship hypothesis

Extending the study of spherically symmetric metrics satisfying the dominant energy condition and exhibiting singularities of power-law type initiated by Szekeres and Iyer, we identify two classes of peculiar interest: focusing timelike singularity solutions with the stress-energy tensor of a radiative perfect fluid (equation of state: p=13) and a set of null singularity classes verifying identical properties. We consider two important applications of these results: to cosmology, as regards the possibility of solving the horizon problem with no need to resort to any inflationary scenario, and to the strong cosmic censorship hypothesis to which we propose a class of physically consistent counterexamples.