Volume-distance-ratio asymptote and spacetime inextensibility of spatially flat FLRW spacetime

Abstract: We study the volume-distance-ratio (VDR) asymptote at a past timelike boundary point of spatially flat FLRW spacetime with scale factor $a(t) = t^{\alpha}$, for $\alpha \geq 1$ or $\alpha \in (0,1)$. We employ the spacetime inextensibility criteria via the volume-distance-ratio asymptote to deduce its inextensibility. We show that for spatial dimensions greater than $2$, there exists at least one nonzero critical exponent $\alpha \in (0,1)$ for which the VDR asymptote along a $\Sigma_t$-orthogonal geodesic is equal to the Minkowski value.