Related papers: No time machines in classical general relativity
It is currently unknown whether the laws of physics permit time travel into the past. While general relativity indicates the theoretical possibility of causality violation, it is now widely accepted that a theory of quantum gravity must…
The apparent superluminal growth in the size of a sufficiently large part of the universe can be ascribed to the special relativistic effect of time dilation.
We hereby show that the Kasner spacetime turns out to be singularity-free in Einstein's conformal gravity in vacuum or in presence of matter. Such a statement is based on the regularity of the curvature invariants and on the geodesic…
The discussion is limited to first-class parametrized systems, where the definition of time evolution and observables is not trivial, and to finite dimensional systems in order that technicalities do not obscure the conceptual framework.…
No Hopf-Rinow Theorem is possible in Lorentzian Geometry. Nonetheless, we prove that a spacetime is globally hyperbolic if and only if it is metrically complete with respect to the null distance of a time function. Our approach is based on…
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…
Causality is fundamental to science, but it appears in several different forms. One is relativistic causality, which is tied to a space-time structure and forbids signalling outside the future. A second is an operational notion of causation…
We study classical Hamiltonian systems in which the intrinsic proper time evolution parameter is related through a probability distribution to the physical time, which is assumed to be discrete. - This is motivated by the ``timeless''…
Understanding the emergence of a tangible 4-dimensional space-time from a quantum theory of gravity promises to be a tremendously difficult task. This article makes the case that this task may not have to be carried. Space-time as we know…
The continuation of Misner space into the Euclidean region is seen to imply the topological restriction that the period of the closed spatial direction becomes time-dependent. This restriction results in a modified Lorentzian Misner space…
General relativity is incomplete because it cannot describe quantum effects of space-time. The complete theory of quantum gravity is not yet known and to date no observational evidence exists that space-time is quantized. However, in most…
The gravitation equations of the general relativity, written for Riemannian space-time geometry, are extended to the case of arbitrary (non-Riemannian) space-time geometry. The obtained equations are written in terms of the world function…
On plain physical grounds localization of relativistic quantum particles is extended to the achronal regions of Minkowski spacetime. Achronal localization fulfills automatically the requirements of causality. It constitutes the frame which…
The aim of this work is to review the concepts of time in quantum mechanics and general relativity to show their incompatibility. We show that the absolute character of Newtonian time is present in quantum mechanics and also partially in…
It is argued that the observed Thermodynamic Arrow of Time must arise from the boundary conditions of the universe. We analyse the consequences of the no boundary proposal, the only reasonably complete set of boundary conditions that has…
We consider a very general class of theories, process theories, which capture the underlying structure common to most theories of physics as we understand them today (be they established, toy or speculative theories). Amongst these…
The picture of space-time that Minkowski created in 1907 has been followed by two important developments in physics not contained in the original picture: general relativity and quantum mechanics. We will argue that the use of concepts of…
By incorporating spinning particles into the framework of classical General Relativity, the theory is changed insofar, as, though using holonome coordinates, the connexion becomes asymmetrical. This implies, that partial derivatives do not…
I present a discussion of some open issues in the philosophy of space-time theories. Emphasis is put on the ontological nature of space and time, the relation between determinism and predictability, the origin of irreversible processes in…
The nature of time in quantum mechanics is closely related to the use of a complex, rather than say real, Hilbert space. This becomes particularly clear when considering quantum field theory in time dependent backgrounds, such as in…