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Spacetime topology
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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.

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Contents
1 Types of topology
1.1 Manifold topology
1.2 Path or Zeeman topology
1.2.1 Properties
1.3 Alexandrov topology
2 See also
3 References

Types of topology

Spacetime

Special relativity
General relativity
Introduction
Equivalence principle
Differential geometry
Einstein field equations
Introduction to the mathematics

[ edit ]

Types

There are two main types of topology for a spacetime

Spacetime
Minkowski spacetime
Spacetime diagrams

Manifold topology [ edit ]

As with any manifold, a spacetime possesses a natural manifold topology.
Here the open sets are the image of open sets in
.

Path or Zeeman topology [ edit ]

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
.

Edit links

Part of a series on

It is the finest topology which induces the same topology as

timelike curves.

Mathematics
Mathematics of general relativity
Lorentz transformations
Four-vector
Derivations
Spacetime topology
Einstein field equations
Relation to gravity
Gravity
Newton's Law of Gravity
Curved spacetime

does on

v t e

Properties [ edit ]
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
normal neighbourhood
(

for some point

and some convex

denote the chronological past and future).

Alexandrov topology [ edit ]

The Alexandrov topology on spacetime, is the coarsest topology such that both
subsets

and

are open for all

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.[2]
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, and in physics the term Alexandrov topology remains in use.

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See also

[ edit ]

Spacetime
Causal structure
Gravitational singularity

References

[ edit ]

1. ^ Luca Bombelli website

2. ^ Penrose, Roger (1972), Techniques of Differential Topology in Relativity, CBMS-NSF Regional Conference Series in
Applied Mathematics, p. 34
E. C. Zeeman Causality Implies the Lorentz Group J. Math. Phys. April 1964 Volume 5, Issue 4, pp. 490493
E. C. Zeeman The Topology of Minkowski Space Topology Volume 6, Issue 2, April 1967, Pages 161-170
S. W. Hawking, A. R. King, P. J. McCarthy A new topology for curved spacetime which incorporates the causal,
differential, and conformal structures J. Math. Phys. February 1976 Volume 17, Issue 2, pp. 174181
,
Categories: General relativity Lorentzian manifolds

This page was last modified on 26 March 2016, at 00:06.

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