Related papers: Chronological spacetimes without lightlike lines a…
This paper explains why spacetime singularities do not constitute a breakdown of physical laws, and points out that the difference between the metrics at singularities and those outside of singularities is factual, rather than nomological.
We prove that a globally hyperbolic smooth spacetime endowed with a $\smash{\mathrm{C}^1}$-Lorentzian metric whose Ricci tensor is bounded from below in all timelike directions, in a distributional sense, obeys the timelike…
A time machine (TM) is constructed whose creating in contrast to all TMs known so far requires neither singularities, nor violation of the weak energy condition (WEC). The spacetime exterior to the TM closely resembles the Friedmann…
We address chronology protection in stationary, rotationally symmetric spacetimes in 2+1 dimensional gravity, focusing on the case of negative cosmological constant. We show that, if such spacetimes contain closed timelike curves, they…
We present a cyclic symmetric space-time, admitting closed time-like curves (CTCs) which appear after a certain instant of time, i. e., a time-machine space-time. These closed time-like curves evolve from an initial spacelike hypersurface…
The full causal ladder of spacetimes is constructed, and their updated main properties are developed. Old concepts and alternative definitions of each level of the ladder are revisited, with emphasis in minimum hypotheses. The implications…
Every time function on spacetime gives a (continuous) total preordering of the spacetime events which respects the notion of causal precedence. The problem of the existence of a (semi-)time function on spacetime and the problem of…
We investigate here the causal structure of spacetime in the vicinity of a spacetime singularity. The particle and energy emission from such ultra-dense regions forming in gravitational collapse of a massive matter cloud is governed by the…
One way to understand more about spacetime singularities is to construct solutions of the Einstein equations containing singularities with prescribed properties. The heuristic ideas of the BKL picture suggest that oscillatory singularities…
Popular wisdom amongst theoretical physicists says that the continuum structure of spacetime is probably not elementary, but rather emergent. While many arguments to support that view arise from speculative ideas, the argument can also be…
Globally hyperbolic spacetimes admitting infinitely many causal (and timelike) homotopy classes of curves joining two prescribed points, are exhibited and discussed.
We consider the causal structure of generalized uncharged McVittie spacetimes with increasing central mass $m (t)$ and positive Hubble factor $H (t)$. Under physically reasonable conditions, namely, a big bang singularity in the past, a…
It is shown that if $M$ is a strongly causal free of naked singularities space-time, then its causal structure is completely characterized by a partial order in the space of skies defined by means of a class non-negative Legendrian…
A viable spacetime is one that admits a complete timelike geodesic. It is shown that a causal diffeomorphism preserving the Ricci tensor between two spacetimes is necessarily a homothety, if one of them is viable.
Time is, figuratively and literally, becoming the new dimension for crystalline matter. As such, rapid recent progress on time-varying media gave rise to the notion of temporal and spatiotemporal crystals. Fundamentally rethinking the role…
It is widely held that plane wave spacetimes are causally well behaved which means that they are free from causal pathologies such as closed timelike curves or closed null geodesics. In this paper, we show that one can get closed null…
Theories of quantum gravity generically presuppose or predict that the reality underlying relativistic spacetimes they are describing is significantly non-spatiotemporal. On pain of empirical incoherence, approaches to quantum gravity must…
We recast the tools of ``global causal analysis'' in accord with an approach to the subject animated by two distinctive features: a thoroughgoing reliance on order-theoretic concepts, and a utilization of the Vietoris topology for the space…
Linear topological spaces with partial ordering (linear kinematics) are studied. They are defined by a set of 8 axioms implying that topology, linear structure and ordering are compatible with each other. Most of the results are valid for…
A two boundary quantum mechanics without time ordered causal structure is advocated as consistent theory. The apparent causal structure of usual "near future" macroscopic phenomena is attributed to a cosmological asymmetry and to rules…