Euclidean-Lorentzian Dichotomy and Algebraic Causality in Finite Ring Continuum

TL;DR

This paper explores how concepts from special relativity, like causality and Lorentz symmetry, can emerge from finite-field arithmetic in a mathematical framework called the Finite Ring Continuum.

Contribution

The paper introduces a Euclidean-Lorentzian dichotomy in finite rings and shows how causality and Lorentz symmetry arise algebraically.

Findings

A genuine Lorentzian quadratic form cannot be realized in a single space-like prime shell Fp.

A finite-field Lorentz transformation is derived that preserves the Minkowski form and generates a finite orthogonal group.

Causality is shown to have an algebraic origin, with Euclidean invariants in Fp and causal structure in Fp².

Abstract

We present a concise and self-contained extension of the Finite Ring Continuum (FRC) program, showing that symmetry-complete prime shells Fp with p=4t+1 exhibit a fundamental Euclidean-Lorentzian dichotomy. A genuine Lorentzian quadratic form cannot be realized within a single space-like prime shell Fp, since to split time from space one requires a time coefficient c2 in the nonsquare class of Fp×, but then c∉Fp. An explicit finite-field Lorentz transformation is subsequently derived that preserves the Minkowski form and generates a finite orthogonal group O(Qν,Fp2) of split type (Witt index 1). These results demonstrate that the essential algebraic features of special relativity—the invariant interval and Lorentz symmetry—emerge naturally within finite-field arithmetic, thereby establishing an intrinsic relativistic algebra within FRC. Finally, this dichotomy implies the algebraic origin of causality: Euclidean invariants reside within a space-like shell Fp, while Lorentzian structure and causal separation arise in its quadratic spacetime extension Fp2.

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