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Causally continuous spacetimes

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Abstract

Causally continuous general relativistic spacetimes are defined and analyzed. In a causally continuous spacetime, the past and future of a local observer behave continuously under small perturbations of the metric or small changes in his location. Causally simple spacetimes are causally continuous; causally continuous spacetimes are causally stable. Possible reasons for taking causal continuity as a basic postulate in macrophysics are briefly discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    S. W. Hawking

  2. DAMTP, University of Cambridge, USA

    R. K. Sachs

  3. Departments of Mathematics and Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, USA

    R. K. Sachs

Authors
  1. S. W. Hawking
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  2. R. K. Sachs
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Supported by grants from the NSF, SRC, and Guggenheim foundation.

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Hawking, S.W., Sachs, R.K. Causally continuous spacetimes. Commun.Math. Phys. 35, 287–296 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01646350

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01646350

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