English

The causal structure of spacetime is a parameterized Randers geometry

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2011-03-18 v1 High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

There is a by now well-established isomorphism between stationary 4-dimensional spacetimes and 3-dimensional purely spatial Randers geometries - these Randers geometries being a particular case of the more general class of 3-dimensional Finsler geometries. We point out that in stably causal spacetimes, by using the (time-dependent) ADM decomposition, this result can be extended to general non-stationary spacetimes - the causal structure (conformal structure) of the full spacetime is completely encoded in a parameterized (time-dependent) class of Randers spaces, which can then be used to define a Fermat principle, and also to reconstruct the null cones and causal structure.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1012.4467,
  title  = {The causal structure of spacetime is a parameterized Randers geometry},
  author = {Jozef Skakala and Matt Visser},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1012.4467},
  year   = {2011}
}

Comments

8 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-21T17:01:58.234Z