Causal coverage in ordered locales and spacetimes

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Authors: Chris Heunen, Nesta van der Schaaf
Cited by: 0

Abstract

We develop relativistic causality theory in the setting of point-free topology by introducing a notion of causal coverage in ordered locales, generalising their canonical coverage relation to incorporate causal structure. This improves Christensen and Crane’s construction of “causal sites.” We connect to sheaf theory by showing that causal coverages can be interpreted as a generalised Grothendieck topology, and the sheaf condition as a type of deterministic time evolution. To develop these notions, we introduce and study parallel ordered locales. Causal coverage naturally induces a notion of domain of dependence. Comparing the localic and curve-wise definitions in spacetimes, the localic domains strictly contain the classical ones.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories Homotopy and Cohomology in Algebraic Topology Advanced Differential Geometry Research

Publication details

Journal / source
Journal of Mathematical Physics
Volume
67
Issue
8
Publication date
1 August 2026
Language
EN