How does a closed timelike curve work?

In a closed timelike curve, the worldline of an object through spacetime follows a curious path where it eventually returns to the exact same coordinates in space and time that it was at previously. In other words, a closed timelike curve is the mathematical result of physics equations that allows for time travel.

Are closed timelike curves possible?

A closed timelike curve can be created if a series of such light cones are set up so as to loop back on themselves, so it would be possible for an object to move around this loop and return to the same place and time that it started.

Is the universe a closed timelike curve?

It turns out that general relativity allows for closed timelike curves to exist. In 1949 Kurt Gödel devised a rotating universe that has CTCs and is perfectly allowed by relativity.

What is a timelike vector?

A timelike vector connects two events that are causally connected, that is the second event is in the light cone of the first event. A spacelike vector connects two events that are causally disconnected, that is the second event is outside the light cone of the first event.

How does a Tipler cylinder work?

A Tipler cylinder, also called a Tipler time machine, is a hypothetical object theorized to be a potential mode of time travel—although results have shown that a Tipler cylinder could only allow time travel if its length were infinite or with the existence of negative energy.

Who Discovered closed timelike curve?

Kurt Gödel
The ‘closed timelike curve’ concept, introduced by Kurt Gödel, had highlighted logical inconsistencies with the concept of time, as we know it. These potential problems regarding time were further explored in the 1960s, when interest in general relativity was growing among scientists.

What is a timelike coordinate?

The “spacelike” and “timelike” metric conventions The former is called the “timelike convention”, and is what we are using. The “timelike convention” allows one to track something that is moving slower than the speed of light, and find out how much time will elapse, on that observer’s own clock, between the two events.

What is timelike interval?

The value of a timelike interval determines the proper time between the two events—that is the the time between the events as measured in a frame of reference where they occur at the same position.