English

Causality theory of spacetimes with continuous Lorentzian metrics revisited

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2021-06-30 v2 Mathematical Physics Differential Geometry math.MP

Abstract

We consider the usual causal structure (I+,J+)(I^+,J^+) on a spacetime, and a number of alternatives based on Minguzzi's D+D^+ and Sorkin and Woolgar's K+K^+, in the case where the spacetime metric is continuous, but not necessarily smooth. We compare the different causal structures based on three key properties, namely the validity of the push-up lemma, the openness of chronological futures, and the existence of limit causal curves. Recall that if the spacetime metric is smooth, (I+,J+)(I^+,J^+) satisfies all three properties, but that in the continuous case, the push-up lemma fails. Among the proposed alternative causal structures, there is one that satisfies push-up and open futures, and one that has open futures and limit curves. Furthermore, we show that spacetimes with continuous metrics do not, in general, admit a causal structure satisfying all three properties at once.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2101.12716,
  title  = {Causality theory of spacetimes with continuous Lorentzian metrics revisited},
  author = {Leonardo García-Heveling},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2101.12716},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

Significant changes in v2: notation changed, references added, numbering of theorems shifted. 12 pages, 2 figures, 1 table