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Spacetime topology is the topological structure of spacetime, a topic studied primarily in general relativity. This physical theory models gravitation as the curvature of a four dimensional Lorentzian manifold (a spacetime) and the concepts of topology thus become important in analysing local as well as global aspects of spacetime. The study of spacetime topology is especially important in physical cosmology.
There are two main types of topology for a spacetime M.
As with any manifold, a spacetime possesses a natural manifold topology. Here the open sets are the image of open sets in .
Definition: [1] The topology in which a subset is open if for every timelike curve there is a set in the manifold topology such that .
It is the finest topology which induces the same topology as does on timelike curves. [2]
Strictly finer than the manifold topology. It is therefore Hausdorff, separable but not locally compact.
A base for the topology is sets of the form for some point and some convex normal neighbourhood .
( denote the chronological past and future).
The Alexandrov topology on spacetime, is the coarsest topology such that both and are open for all subsets .
Here the base of open sets for the topology are sets of the form for some points .
This topology coincides with the manifold topology if and only if the manifold is strongly causal but it is coarser in general. [3]
Note that in mathematics, an Alexandrov topology on a partial order is usually taken to be the coarsest topology in which only the upper sets are required to be open. This topology goes back to Pavel Alexandrov.
Nowadays, the correct mathematical term for the Alexandrov topology on spacetime (which goes back to Alexandr D. Alexandrov) would be the interval topology, but when Kronheimer and Penrose introduced the term this difference in nomenclature was not as clear[ citation needed ], and in physics the term Alexandrov topology remains in use.
Events connected by light have zero separation. The plenum of spacetime in the plane is split into four quadrants, each of which has the topology of R2. The dividing lines are the trajectory of inbound and outbound photons at (0,0). The planar-cosmology topological segmentation is the future F, the past P, space left L, and space right D. The homeomorphism of F with R2 amounts to polar decomposition of split-complex numbers:
F is in bijective correspondence with each of P, L, and D under the mappings z → –z, z → jz, and z → – j z, so each acquires the same topology. The union U = F ∪ P ∪ L ∪ D then has a topology nearly covering the plane, leaving out only the null cone on (0,0). Hyperbolic rotation of the plane does not mingle the quadrants, in fact, each one is an invariant set under the unit hyperbola group.
In mathematics, a diffeomorphism is an isomorphism of smooth manifolds. It is an invertible function that maps one differentiable manifold to another such that both the function and its inverse are differentiable.
In the mathematical field of topology, a homeomorphism, also called topological isomorphism, or bicontinuous function, is a bijective and continuous function between topological spaces that has a continuous inverse function. Homeomorphisms are the isomorphisms in the category of topological spaces—that is, they are the mappings that preserve all the topological properties of a given space. Two spaces with a homeomorphism between them are called homeomorphic, and from a topological viewpoint they are the same.
In mathematics, a topological space is, roughly speaking, a geometrical space in which closeness is defined but cannot necessarily be measured by a numeric distance. More specifically, a topological space is a set whose elements are called points, along with an additional structure called a topology, which can be defined as a set of neighbourhoods for each point that satisfy some axioms formalizing the concept of closeness. There are several equivalent definitions of a topology, the most commonly used of which is the definition through open sets, which is easier than the others to manipulate.
This is a glossary of some terms used in the branch of mathematics known as topology. Although there is no absolute distinction between different areas of topology, the focus here is on general topology. The following definitions are also fundamental to algebraic topology, differential topology and geometric topology.
In mathematics, a diffeology on a set generalizes the concept of smooth charts in a differentiable manifold, declaring what the "smooth parametrizations" in the set are.
In mathematics, general topology is the branch of topology that deals with the basic set-theoretic definitions and constructions used in topology. It is the foundation of most other branches of topology, including differential topology, geometric topology, and algebraic topology.
In topology, a branch of mathematics, two continuous functions from one topological space to another are called homotopic if one can be "continuously deformed" into the other, such a deformation being called a homotopy between the two functions. A notable use of homotopy is the definition of homotopy groups and cohomotopy groups, important invariants in algebraic topology.
In mathematics, more specifically topology, a local homeomorphism is a function between topological spaces that, intuitively, preserves local structure. If is a local homeomorphism, is said to be an étale space over Local homeomorphisms are used in the study of sheaves. Typical examples of local homeomorphisms are covering maps.
In mathematics and physics, n-dimensional anti-de Sitter space (AdSn) is a maximally symmetric Lorentzian manifold with constant negative scalar curvature. Anti-de Sitter space and de Sitter space are named after Willem de Sitter (1872–1934), professor of astronomy at Leiden University and director of the Leiden Observatory. Willem de Sitter and Albert Einstein worked together closely in Leiden in the 1920s on the spacetime structure of the universe.
In geometric topology, a branch of mathematics, a Dehn twist is a certain type of self-homeomorphism of a surface.
In mathematics, triangulation describes the replacement of topological spaces by piecewise linear spaces, i.e. the choice of a homeomorphism in a suitable simplicial complex. Spaces being homeomorphic to a simplicial complex are called triangulable. Triangulation has various uses in different branches of mathematics, for instance in algebraic topology, in complex analysis or in modeling.
In mathematics, more specifically differential topology, a local diffeomorphism is intuitively a map between Smooth manifolds that preserves the local differentiable structure. The formal definition of a local diffeomorphism is given below.
In mathematics, a manifold is a topological space that locally resembles Euclidean space near each point. More precisely, an -dimensional manifold, or -manifold for short, is a topological space with the property that each point has a neighborhood that is homeomorphic to an open subset of -dimensional Euclidean space.
The Gödel metric, also known as the Gödel solution or Gödel universe, is an exact solution of the Einstein field equations in which the stress–energy tensor contains two terms, the first representing the matter density of a homogeneous distribution of swirling dust particles, and the second associated with a negative cosmological constant.
In the mathematical field of Lorentzian geometry, a Cauchy surface is a certain kind of submanifold of a Lorentzian manifold. In the application of Lorentzian geometry to the physics of general relativity, a Cauchy surface is usually interpreted as defining an "instant of time"; in the mathematics of general relativity, Cauchy surfaces are important in the formulation of the Einstein equations as an evolutionary problem.
In mathematical physics, global hyperbolicity is a certain condition on the causal structure of a spacetime manifold. It's called hyperbolic because the fundamental condition that generates the Lorentzian manifold is
Misner space is an abstract mathematical spacetime, first described by Charles W. Misner. It is also known as the Lorentzian orbifold . It is a simplified, two-dimensional version of the Taub–NUT spacetime. It contains a non-curvature singularity and is an important counterexample to various hypotheses in general relativity.
The causal sets program is an approach to quantum gravity. Its founding principles are that spacetime is fundamentally discrete and that spacetime events are related by a partial order. This partial order has the physical meaning of the causality relations between spacetime events.
In mathematical physics, the causal structure of a Lorentzian manifold describes the causal relationships between points in the manifold.
In the study of Lorentzian manifold spacetimes there exists a hierarchy of causality conditions which are important in proving mathematical theorems about the global structure of such manifolds. These conditions were collected during the late 1970s.