arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to E. Minguzzi.
We remove the Hausdorff condition from Levin's theorem on the representation of preorders by families of continuous utilities. We compare some alternative topological assumptions in a Levin's type theorem, and show that they are equivalent to a Polish space assumption.
We prove that global hyperbolicity is stable in the interval topology on the spacetime metrics. We also prove that every globally hyperbolic spacetime admits a Cauchy hypersurface which remains Cauchy under small perturbations of the spacetime metric. Moreover, we prove that if the spacetime admits a complete timelike Killing field, then the light cones can be widened preserving both global hyperbolicity and the Killing property of the field.
In applications it is useful to know whether a topological preordered space is normally preordered. It is proved that every $k_ω$-space equipped with a closed preorder is a normally preordered space. Furthermore, it is proved that second countable regularly preordered spaces are perfectly normally preordered and admit a countable utility representation.
Poincaré-Einstein's synchronization convention is transitive, and thus leads to a consistent synchronization, only if some form of round-trip property is satisfied. An improved version is given here which does not suffer from this limitation and which therefore may find application in physics, computer science and communication theory. As for the application to physics, the round-trip condition required by the Poincaré-Einstein's synchronization convention corresponds to a vanishing Sagnac effect and thus to the selection of an irrotational frame. The corrected method applies also to rotating frames and shows that there is a consistent synchronization for every given measure on space. The correction to Poincaré-Einstein's amounts to an average of the Sagnac holonomy over all the possible triangular paths. The mathematics used is reminiscent of Alexander cohomology theory.
This is a comment on E. D. Greaves et al. paper. We argue that their laboratory experiment cannot be interpreted as measuring the one-way speed of light.
The existence of a global time is often taken for granted but should instead be considered as a matter of investigation. By using the tools of global Lorentzian geometry I show that, under physically reasonable conditions, the impossibility of finding a global time implies the singularity of spacetime.
This paper has been withdrawn by the author, because it is now part of an enlarged version entitled "Time functions as utilities" arXiv:0909.0890
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 recovering the causal structure starting from the set of time functions are studied. It is pointed out that these problems have an analog in the field of microeconomics known as utility theory. In a chronological spacetime the semi-time functions correspond to the utilities for the chronological relation, while in a K-causal (stably causal) spacetime the time functions correspond to the utilities for the K^+ relation (Seifert's relation). By exploiting this analogy, we are able to import some mathematical results, most notably Peleg's and Levin's theorems, to the spacetime framework. As a consequence, we prove that a K-causal (i.e. stably causal) spacetime admits a time function and that the time or temporal functions can be used to recover the K^+ (or Seifert) relation which indeed turns out to be the intersection of the time or temporal orderings. This result tells us in which circumstances it is possible to recover the chronological or causal relation starting from the set of time or temporal functions allowed by the spacetime. Moreover, it is proved that a chronological spacetime in which the closure of the causal relation is transitive (for instance a reflective spacetime) admits a semi-time function. Along the way a new proof avoiding smoothing techniques is given that the existence of a time function implies stable causality, and a new short proof of the equivalence between K-causality and stable causality is given which takes advantage of Levin's theorem and smoothing techniques.
By definition a spacetime is stably causal if it is possible to widen the light cones all over the spacetime without spoiling causality. We prove that if the spacetime is at least non-total imprisoning then it is stably causal provided the light cones can be widened outside any compact arbitrarily large set, i.e. in a neighborhood of infinity, without spoiling causality. Furthermore, we prove that the new causality level `compact stable causality' can be obtained as the antisymmetry condition of a new causal relation which we identify, but it cannot be obtained as a causal stability condition with respect to a topology on metrics. The difference between stable causality and compact stable causality is shown to follow from the fact that Geroch's interval topology on the space of conformal metrics of M is not Frechet-Urysohn (in fact it is not even T-sequential). In particular we prove that (compact) stably causal metrics are those in the (sequential) interior of the set of chronological metrics. Finally, contrary to previous claims it is shown that stable causality with respect to the C^0 fine topology on metrics leads to the usual notion of stable causality.
It is proved that in a distinguishing spacetime the horismos relation E^+=J^+\I^+ generates the causal relation J^+. In other words two causally related events are joined by a chain of horismotically related events, or again, the causal relation is the smallest transitive relation containing the horismos relation. The result is sharp in the sense that distinction can not be weakened to future or past distinction. Finally, it is proved that a spacetime in which the horismos relation generates the causal relation is necessarily non-total imprisoning.
A classical result in Lorentzian geometry states that a strongly causal spacetime is globally hyperbolic if and only if the Lorentzian distance is finite valued for every metric choice in the conformal class. It is proven here that a non-total imprisoning spacetime is globally hyperbolic if and only if for every metric choice in the conformal class the Lorentzian distance is continuous. Moreover, it is proven that a non-total imprisoning spacetime is causally simple if and only if for every metric choice in the conformal class the Lorentzian distance is continuous wherever it vanishes. Finally, a strongly causal spacetime is causally continuous if and only if there is at least one metric in the conformal class such that the Lorentzian distance is continuous wherever it vanishes.
The result "chronological spacetimes without lightlike lines are stably causal" is announced and motivated. It implies that chronological spacetimes which are null geodesically complete and satisfy the null genericity and the null (averaged) energy condition admit a time function.
It is proven that K-causality coincides with stable causality, and that in a K-causal spacetime the relation K^+ coincides with the Seifert's relation. As a consequence the causal relation "the spacetime is strongly causal and the closure of the causal relation is transitive" stays between stable causality and causal continuity.
The subject of limit curve theorems in Lorentzian geometry is reviewed. A general limit curve theorem is formulated which includes the case of converging curves with endpoints and the case in which the limit points assigned since the beginning are one, two or at most denumerable. Some applications are considered. It is proved that in chronological spacetimes, strong causality is either everywhere verified or everywhere violated on maximizing lightlike segments with open domain. As a consequence, if in a chronological spacetime two distinct lightlike lines intersect each other then strong causality holds at their points. Finally, it is proved that two distinct components of the chronology violating set have disjoint closures or there is a lightlike line passing through each point of the intersection of the corresponding boundaries.
Young's integral inequality is complemented with an upper bound to the remainder. The new inequality turns out to be equivalent to Young's inequality, and the cases in which the equality holds become particularly transparent in the new formulation.
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 states that if there is some form of causality violation on spacetime then either it is the worst possible, namely violation of chronology, or there is a singularity. The analogous result: "Non-totally vicious spacetimes without lightlike rays are globally hyperbolic" is also proved, and its physical consequences are explored.
We develop a theory on a topologically non-trivial manifold which leads to different vacuum backgrounds at the field level. The different colors of the same quark flavor live in different backgrounds generated by the action of the torsion subgroup of H^2(M,2πZ) on H^2(M,2πZ) itself. This topological separation leads to a quark confinement mechanism which does not apply to the baryons as they turn out to live on the same vacuum state. The theory makes some topological assumptions on the spacetime manifold which are compared with the available data on the topology of the Universe.
The non-imprisonment conditions on spacetimes are studied. It is proved that the non-partial imprisonment property implies the distinction property. Moreover, it is proved that feeble distinction, a property which stays between weak distinction and causality, implies non-total imprisonment. As a result the non-imprisonment conditions can be included in the causal ladder of spacetimes. Finally, totally imprisoned causal curves are studied in detail, and results concerning the existence and properties of minimal invariant sets are obtained.