Related papers: The representation of spacetime through time funct…
We develop causality theory for upper semi-continuous distributions of cones over manifolds generalizing results from mathematical relativity in two directions: non-round cones and non-regular differentiability assumptions. We prove the…
The statement of the title is proved. It implies that under physically reasonable conditions, spacetimes which are free from singularities are necessarily stably causal and hence admit a time function. Read as a singularity theorem it…
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…
We summarize the arguments that space and time are likely to be emergent notions; i.e. they are not present in the fundamental formulation of the theory, but appear as approximate macroscopic concepts. Along the way we briefly review…
The Lorentzian length of a timelike curve connecting both endpoints of a classical computation is a function of the path taken through Minkowski spacetime. The associated runtime difference is due to time-dilation: the phenomenon whereby an…
We discuss how developments in physics often imply in the need that spacetime acquires an increasingly richer and complex structure. General Relativity was the first theory to show us the way to connect space and time with the physical…
Why is the manifold topology in a spacetime taken for granted? Why do we prefer to use Riemann open balls as basic-open sets, while there also exists a Lorentz metric? Which topology is a best candidate for a spacetime; a topology…
The research effort reported in this paper is directed, in a broad sense, towards understanding the small-scale structure of spacetime. The fundamental question that guides our discussion is ``what is the physical content of spacetime…
When modelling spacetime and classical physical fields, one typically assumes smoothness (infinite differentiability). But this assumption and its philosophical implications have not been sufficiently scrutinized. For example, we can appeal…
In this work we will focus on the causal character of Carter Spacetime (see B. Carter, Causal structure in space-time, Gen. Rel. Grav. 1 4 337-406, 1971). The importance of this spacetime is the following: for the causally best well behaved…
Causality is one of the fundamental structures of spacetimes, determining the possible behaviour and propagation of physical information. Causal structure can be analysed through the various modal logics it induces. The modal logics for the…
We suggest a new scenario of gravitation in which gravity at the fundamental level is described by a Riemannian (i.e. locally Euclidean) theory without the notion of time. The Lorentzian metric structure and the notion of time emerge as…
Let $(M,g)$ be a time oriented Lorentzian manifold and $d$ the Lorentzian distance on $M$. The function $\tau(q):=\sup_{p< q} d(p,q)$ is the cosmological time function of $M$, where as usual $p< q$ means that $p$ is in the causal past of…
All differences between the role of space and time in nature are explained by proposing the principles in which none of the spacetime coordinates has an {\it a priori} special role. Spacetime is treated as a non-dynamical manifold, with a…
All physical process are subject to some laws which determine with math accurately its time-space evolution. These laws are described, in the last analysis for the principle of causality. The physical space can be homogeneous or…
We consider defining time as a function of a cyclical field, an abstraction of a clock. The definition of time corresponds to a novel interpretation of the relationship between space-time coordinates of observers at different locations in…
The conceptual definition and understanding of the nature of time, both qualitatively and quantitatively is of the utmost difficulty and importance, and plays a fundamental role in physics. Physical systems seem to evolve in paths of…
Connes' functional formula of the Riemannian distance is generalized to the Lorentzian case using the so-called Lorentzian distance, the d'Alembert operator and the causal functions of a globally hyperbolic spacetime. As a step of the…
The splitting of the tangent bundle of space-time into temporal and spatial sub-bundles defines an almost-product structure. In particular, any space-time metric can be locally expressed in time-orthogonal form, in such a way that whether…
Given a time function $\tau$ on a spacetime $M$, we define a `null distance function', $\hat{d}_\tau$, built from and closely related to the causal structure of $M$. In basic models with timelike $\nabla \tau$, we show that 1)…