Time evolution of a black hole lattice universe with a positive cosmological constant $\mathrm{\Lambda }$ is simulated. The vacuum Einstein equations are numerically solved in a cubic box with a black hole in the center. Periodic boundary conditions on all pairs of opposite faces are imposed. Configurations of marginally trapped surfaces are analyzed. We describe the time evolution of not only black hole horizons, but also cosmological horizons. Defining the effective scale factor by using the area of a surface of the cubic box, we compare it with that in the spatially flat dust dominated Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) universe with the same value of $\mathrm{\Lambda }$. It is found that the behavior of the effective scale factor is well approximated by that in the FLRW universe. Our result suggests that local inhomogeneities do not significantly affect the global expansion law of the Universe irrespective of the value of $\mathrm{\Lambda }$.

• Received 14 April 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.89.123502