Comparison theorems in Lorentzian geometry and applications to spacelike hypersurfaces

In this paper we prove Hessian and Laplacian comparison theorems for the Lorentzian distance function in a spacetime with sectional (or Ricci) curvature bounded by a certain function by means of a comparison criterion for Riccati equations. Using these results, under suitable conditions, we are able to obtain some estimates on the higher order mean curvatures of spacelike hypersurfaces satisfying a Omori-Yau maximum principle for certain elliptic operators.