Related papers: No Time Machine Construction in Open 2+1 Gravity w…
The discovery by Gott of a remarkably simple spacetime with closed timelike curves (CTC's) provides a tool for investigating how the creation of time machines is prevented in classical general relativity. The Gott spacetime contains two…
We prove the title.
We consider gravity in 2+1 dimensions in presence of extended stationary sources with rotational symmetry. We prove by direct use of Einstein's equations that if i) the energy momentum tensor satisfies the weak energy condition, ii) the…
By noticing that, in open 2+1 gravity, polarized surfaces cannot converge in the presence of timelike total energy momentum (except for a rotation of 2 pi), we give a simple argument which shows that, quite generally, closed timelike curves…
We extend the argument that spacetimes generated by two timelike particles in D=3 gravity (or equivalently by parallel-moving cosmic strings in D=4) permit closed timelike curves (CTC) only at the price of Misner identifications that…
The use of "handy singularities" (i.e. singularities similar to those arising in the Deutch-Politzer space) enables one to avoid (almost) all known difficulties inherent usually to creation of time machines. A simple method is discussed for…
We give the general solution of the stationary problem of 2+1 dimensional gravity in presence of extended sources, also endowed with angular momentum. We solve explicitly the compact support property of the energy momentum tensor and we…
In this paper we report some results obtained by applying the radial gauge to 2+1 dimensional gravity. The general features of this gauge are reviewed and it is shown how they allow the general solution of the problem in terms of simple…
At first glance, it seems possible to construct in general relativity theory causality violating solutions. The most striking one is the Gott spacetime. Two cosmic strings, approaching each other with high velocity, could produce closed…
Irrespective of local conditions imposed on the metric, any extendible spacetime U has a maximal extension containing no closed causal curves outside the chronological past of U. We prove this fact and interpret it as impossibility (in…
We prove two theorems which concern difficulties in the formulation of the quantum theory of a linear scalar field on a spacetime, (M,g_{ab}), with a compactly generated Cauchy horizon. These theorems demonstrate the breakdown of the theory…
A three dimensional generally covariant theory is described that has a 2+1 canonical decomposition in which the Hamiltonian constraint, which generates the dynamics, is absent. Physical observables for the theory are described and the…
In three spacetime dimensions, general relativity drastically simplifies, becoming a ``topological'' theory with no propagating local degrees of freedom. Nevertheless, many of the difficult conceptual problems of quantizing gravity are…
A new solution of the Einstein-Born-Infeld theory in 2+1 space-time is derived. A new solution has no horizon there are two singularity. This space-time has two singular points, however, one of the point at the origin is not in the physical…
The building of a time machine, if possible at all, requires the relevant regions of spacetime to be compact (that is, physically speaking, free from sources of unpredictability such as infinities and singularities). Motivated by this…
In a number of papers it has been claimed that the time machine are quantum unstable, which manifests itself in the divergence of the vacuum expectation value of the stress-energy tensor $\langle{\bf T}\rangle$ near the Cauchy horizon. The…
The existence of time machines, understood as spacetime constructions exhibiting physically realised closed timelike curves (CTCs), would raise fundamental problems with causality and challenge our current understanding of classical and…
We prove a positive energy theorem in 2+1 dimensional gravity for open universes and any matter energy-momentum tensor satisfying the dominant energy condition. We consider on the space-like initial value surface a family of widening Wilson…
We obtain an improved version of the area theorem for not necessarily differentiable horizons which, in conjunction with a recent result on the completeness of generators, allows us to prove that under the null energy condition every…
Witten has presented an argument for the vanishing of the cosmological constant in 2+1 dimensions. This argument is crucially tied to the specific properties of (2+1)-dimensional gravity. We argue that this reasoning can be deconstructed to…