Formation of closed timelike curves in a composite vacuum/dust asymptotically flat spacetime

We present a new asymptotically flat time-machine model made solely of vacuum and dust. The spacetime evolves from a regular spacelike initial hypersurface S and subsequently develops closed timelike curves. The initial hypersurface S is asymptotically flat and topologically trivial. The chronology violation occurs in a compact manner; namely, the first closed causal curves form at the boundary of the future domain of dependence of a compact region in S (the core). This central core is empty, and so is the external asymptotically flat region. The intermediate region surrounding the core (the envelope) is made of dust with positive energy density. This model trivially satisfies the weak, dominant, and strong energy conditions. Furthermore, it is governed by a well-defined system of field equations which possesses a well-posed initial-value problem.

©2007 The American Physical Society