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Causal Set
The causal sets program is an approach to quantum gravity. Its founding principles are that spacetime is fundamentally discrete (a collection of discrete spacetime points, called the elements of the causal set) and that spacetime events are related by a partial order. This partial order has the physical meaning of the causality relations between spacetime events. History For some decades after the formulation of general relativity, the attitude towards Lorentzian geometry was mostly dedicated to understanding its physical implications and not concerned with theoretical issues. However, early attempts to use causality as a starting point have been provided by Hermann Weyl and Hendrik Lorentz. Alfred Robb in two books in 1914 and 1936 suggested an axiomatic framework where the causal precedence played a critical role. The first explicit proposal of quantising the causal structure of spacetime is attributed by Sumati Surya to E. H. Kronheimer and Roger Penrose, who invented causal s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rafael Sorkin
Rafael Dolnick Sorkin is an American physicist. He is professor emeritus of physics at Syracuse University and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He is best known as the initiator and main proponent of the causal sets approach to quantum gravity. He is also known for introducing Entropy of entanglement, entanglement entropy with collaborators, as a source for Black hole thermodynamics, black hole entropy. Biography Sorkin grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and was educated at the New Trier Township High School (valedictorian, 1963), Harvard University (A.B., Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1966), and California Institute of Technology (Ph.D., 1974). He is the son of the American violinist Leonard Sorkin. Research interests Sorkin believes that the successful solution of quantum gravity will involve both a reevaluation of gravity in terms of a discrete structure underlying continuous spacetime, and also a reformulation of qua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quantum Gravity
Quantum gravity (QG) is a field of theoretical physics that seeks to describe gravity according to the principles of quantum mechanics. It deals with environments in which neither gravitational nor quantum effects can be ignored, such as in the vicinity of black holes or similar compact astrophysical objects, as well as in the early stages of the universe moments after the Big Bang. Three of the four fundamental forces of nature are described within the framework of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory: the Electromagnetism, electromagnetic interaction, the Strong interaction, strong force, and the Weak interaction, weak force; this leaves gravity as the only interaction that has not been fully accommodated. The current understanding of gravity is based on Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, which incorporates his theory of special relativity and deeply modifies the understanding of concepts like time and space. Although general relativity is highly regarded for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Causal Curve
In mathematical physics, the causal structure of a Lorentzian manifold describes the possible causal relationships between points in the manifold. Lorentzian manifolds can be classified according to the types of causal structures they admit (''causality conditions''). Introduction In modern physics (especially general relativity) spacetime is represented by a Lorentzian manifold. The causal relations between points in the manifold are interpreted as describing which events in spacetime can influence which other events. The causal structure of an arbitrary (possibly curved) Lorentzian manifold is made more complicated by the presence of curvature. Discussions of the causal structure for such manifolds must be phrased in terms of smooth curves joining pairs of points. Conditions on the tangent vectors of the curves then define the causal relationships. Tangent vectors If \,(M,g) is a Lorentzian manifold (for metric g on manifold M) then the nonzero tangent vectors at each p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lorentzian Manifold
In mathematical physics, a pseudo-Riemannian manifold, also called a semi-Riemannian manifold, is a differentiable manifold with a metric tensor that is everywhere non-degenerate bilinear form, nondegenerate. This is a generalization of a Riemannian manifold in which the requirement of Positive-definite bilinear form, positive-definiteness is relaxed. Every tangent space of a pseudo-Riemannian manifold is a pseudo-Euclidean vector space. A special case used in general relativity is a four-dimensional Lorentzian manifold for modeling spacetime, where tangent vectors can be classified as Causal structure, timelike, null, and spacelike. Introduction Manifolds In differential geometry, a differentiable manifold is a space that is locally similar to a Euclidean space. In an ''n''-dimensional Euclidean space any point can be specified by ''n'' real numbers. These are called the coordinates of the point. An ''n''-dimensional differentiable manifold is a generalisation of '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Causal Relation
In mathematical physics, the causal structure of a Lorentzian manifold describes the possible causal relationships between points in the manifold. Lorentzian manifolds can be classified according to the types of causal structures they admit (''causality conditions''). Introduction In modern physics (especially general relativity) spacetime is represented by a Lorentzian manifold. The causal relations between points in the manifold are interpreted as describing which events in spacetime can influence which other events. The causal structure of an arbitrary (possibly curved) Lorentzian manifold is made more complicated by the presence of curvature. Discussions of the causal structure for such manifolds must be phrased in terms of smooth curves joining pairs of points. Conditions on the tangent vectors of the curves then define the causal relationships. Tangent vectors If \,(M,g) is a Lorentzian manifold (for metric g on manifold M) then the nonzero tangent vectors at each p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asymmetric Relation
In mathematics, an asymmetric relation is a binary relation R on a set X where for all a, b \in X, if a is related to b then b is ''not'' related to a. Formal definition Preliminaries A binary relation on X is any subset R of X \times X. Given a, b \in X, write a R b if and only if (a, b) \in R, which means that a R b is shorthand for (a, b) \in R. The expression a R b is read as "a is related to b by R." Definition The binary relation R is called if for all a, b \in X, if a R b is true then b R a is false; that is, if (a, b) \in R then (b, a) \not\in R. This can be written in the notation of first-order logic as \forall a, b \in X: a R b \implies \lnot(b R a). A logically equivalent definition is: :for all a, b \in X, at least one of a R b and b R a is , which in first-order logic can be written as: \forall a, b \in X: \lnot(a R b \wedge b R a). A relation is asymmetric if and only if it is both antisymmetric and irreflexive, so this may also be taken as a definit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irreflexive Relation
In mathematics, a binary relation R on a set X is reflexive if it relates every element of X to itself. An example of a reflexive relation is the relation " is equal to" on the set of real numbers, since every real number is equal to itself. A reflexive relation is said to have the reflexive property or is said to possess reflexivity. Along with symmetry and transitivity, reflexivity is one of three properties defining equivalence relations. Etymology The word ''reflexive'' is originally derived from the Medieval Latin ''reflexivus'' ('recoiling' reflex.html" ;"title="f. ''reflex">f. ''reflex'' or 'directed upon itself') (c. 1250 AD) from the classical Latin ''reflexus-'' ('turn away', 'reflection') + ''-īvus'' (suffix). The word entered Early Modern English in the 1580s. The sense of the word meaning 'directed upon itself', as now used in mathematics, surviving mostly by its use in philosophy and grammar (cf. ''Reflexive verb'' and ''Reflexive pronoun''). The first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pseudo-Riemannian Manifold
In mathematical physics, a pseudo-Riemannian manifold, also called a semi-Riemannian manifold, is a differentiable manifold with a metric tensor that is everywhere nondegenerate. This is a generalization of a Riemannian manifold in which the requirement of positive-definiteness is relaxed. Every tangent space of a pseudo-Riemannian manifold is a pseudo-Euclidean vector space. A special case used in general relativity is a four-dimensional Lorentzian manifold for modeling spacetime, where tangent vectors can be classified as timelike, null, and spacelike. Introduction Manifolds In differential geometry, a differentiable manifold is a space that is locally similar to a Euclidean space. In an ''n''-dimensional Euclidean space any point can be specified by ''n'' real numbers. These are called the coordinates of the point. An ''n''-dimensional differentiable manifold is a generalisation of ''n''-dimensional Euclidean space. In a manifold it may only be possible to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Event (relativity)
In Theory of relativity, relativity, an event is anything that happens that has a specific time and place in spacetime. For example, a glass breaking on the floor is an event; it occurs at a unique place and a unique time. Strictly speaking, the notion of an event is an Idealization (philosophy of science), idealization, in the sense that it specifies a definite time and place, whereas any actual event is bound to have a finite extent, both in time and in space. The Spacetime#Spacetime_interval, spacetime interval between two events: (\text)^2 = \left[ \frac \right]^2 - \left[ \frac \right]^2 is an invariance (physics), invariant. An event in the universe is caused by the set of events in its causal past. An event contributes to the occurrence of events in its causal future. Upon choosing a frame of reference, one can assign coordinates to the event: three spatial coordinates \vec = (x,y,z) to describe the location and one time coordinate t to specify the moment at which t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Locally Finite Poset
In mathematics, a locally finite poset is a partially ordered set ''P'' such that for all ''x'', ''y'' ∈ ''P'', the interval 'x'', ''y''consists of finitely many elements. Given a locally finite poset ''P'' we can define its ''incidence algebra''. Elements of the incidence algebra are functions ''ƒ'' that assign to each interval 'x'', ''y''of ''P'' a real number ''ƒ''(''x'', ''y''). These functions form an associative algebra with a product defined by : (f * g)(x,y):=\sum_ f(x,z) g(z,y). There is also a definition of '' incidence coalgebra''. In theoretical physics a locally finite poset is also called a causal set and has been used as a model for spacetime In physics, spacetime, also called the space-time continuum, is a mathematical model that fuses the three dimensions of space and the one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional continuum. Spacetime diagrams are useful in visualiz .... References * Stanley, Richard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transitive Relation
In mathematics, a binary relation on a set (mathematics), set is transitive if, for all elements , , in , whenever relates to and to , then also relates to . Every partial order and every equivalence relation is transitive. For example, less than and equality (mathematics), equality among real numbers are both transitive: If and then ; and if and then . Definition A homogeneous relation on the set is a ''transitive relation'' if, :for all , if and , then . Or in terms of first-order logic: :\forall a,b,c \in X: (aRb \wedge bRc) \Rightarrow aRc, where is the infix notation for . Examples As a non-mathematical example, the relation "is an ancestor of" is transitive. For example, if Amy is an ancestor of Becky, and Becky is an ancestor of Carrie, then Amy is also an ancestor of Carrie. On the other hand, "is the birth mother of" is not a transitive relation, because if Alice is the birth mother of Brenda, and Brenda is the birth mother of Claire, then it does ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antisymmetric Relation
In mathematics, a binary relation R on a set X is antisymmetric if there is no pair of ''distinct'' elements of X each of which is related by R to the other. More formally, R is antisymmetric precisely if for all a, b \in X, \text \,aRb\, \text \,a \neq b\, \text \,bRa\, \text, or equivalently, \text \,aRb\, \text \,bRa\, \text \,a = b. The definition of antisymmetry says nothing about whether aRa actually holds or not for any a. An antisymmetric relation R on a set X may be reflexive (that is, aRa for all a \in X), irreflexive (that is, aRa for no a \in X), or neither reflexive nor irreflexive. A relation is asymmetric if and only if it is both antisymmetric and irreflexive. Examples The divisibility relation on the natural numbers is an important example of an antisymmetric relation. In this context, antisymmetry means that the only way each of two numbers can be divisible by the other is if the two are, in fact, the same number; equivalently, if n and m are distinct and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
