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Written by Ed
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Friday, 31 July 2009 16:24 |
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Sometimes people need a reality check. This is a demonstration of humour mixed with physics to highlight the need for realit when dealing with petty grievances. It intended as satire. Coffee Causality Conjecture Edward A Thomson - The University of Glasgow
Abstract: We *boldly* suggest that making coffee and being outside of the department simultaneously is prohibited by the cosmic censorship hypotheses. Our results show that physics still works.
Introduction: Let's ask a simple question: If Hamish is out of the department then is it possible for him to simultaneously make coffee inside the department?
Background:
For two events to coincide and hence either (i) be the same event or (ii) be part of a chain of causal events then their coordinates in space-time must either (i) be identical or (ii) for linked events then the subsequent event must be within the horizon of the prior event. Failure of the cosmic censorship hypothesis leads to the failure of determinism, because it is impossible to predict the behavior of space-time in the causal future of a singularity. [1]
But we could also conceive of a situation where Hamish travels back in time, gets a flight to Glasgow, makes coffee, then returns from whence he came. However, the creation of a Closed Time-like curve [2] is also a singularity in space-time that is most likely ruled out by the cosmic censorship hypothese
Results:
Hamish wasn't in the department earlier this week to fulfill his coffee duty; however, if he had the ability to create a CTC then he could have simultaneously been here and not been here. Hence, he would have been able to make coffee. He wasn't here but Procheta made coffee instead.
Conclusion:
Hamish didn't create a CTC. Procheta made coffee. Hence causality is preserved and physics still works.
Bibliography:
[1] Penrose, Roger: "Singularities and time-asymmetry", Chapter 12 in /General Relativity: An Einstein Centenary Survey/
[2] Kurt Gödel (1949). "An Example of a New Type of Cosmological Solution of Einstein's Field Equations of Gravitation". /Rev. Mod. Phys./ *21*: 447.
[/satire]
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