On Relativity, Time Reckoning, and the Topology of Time Series
On Relativity, Time Reckoning, and the Topology of Time Series
This chapter devotes equal attention to special relativity and general relativity. It first describes the history of the analysis of distant simultaneity, up to and including Einstein's procedure in his revolutionary 1905 paper which introduced special relativity. In particular, the discussion relates Einstein's procedure to the ensuing philosophical debate about whether distant simultaneity is a matter of convention. As to general relativity, the discussion gives a brief sketch of Einstein's path towards his discovery of general relativity. Thereafter, it focuses on the topological structure of time or, more precisely, of timelike lines (worldlines) in spacetime. It discusses the closed timelike lines first found in an exact solution of general relativity by Godel; and the open timelike geodesics that get arbitrarily close to the initial singularity (Big Bang) in a Friedmann solution.
Keywords: general relativity, special relativity, Albert Einstein, Big Bang, worldlines, distant simultaneity, timelike geodesics
British Academy Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.