Perturbations of a class of locally rotationally symmetric cosmologies with applications to dissipative fluids

A gauge invariant perturbation theory, based on the 1 + 1 + 2 covariant split of spacetime, is used to study first order perturbations on a class of anisotropic cosmological backgrounds. The perturbations as well as the energy-momentum tensor are kept general, giving a system of equations on which different physical situations may be imposed. Through a harmonic decomposition, the system is then transformed to evolution equations in time and algebraic constraints. This result is then applied to dissipative one-component fluids, and on using the simplified acausal Eckart theory the system is reduced to two closed subsystems, governed by four and eight harmonic coefficients for the odd and even sectors respectively. The system is also seen to close in a simplified causal theory. It is then demonstrated, within the Eckart theory, how vorticity can be generated from viscosity