Holographic Protection of Chronology in Universes of the Godel Type

TL;DR

This paper explores how holography can protect causality in Godel-like universes within string theory, revealing their connection to de Sitter space and generating new solutions via T-duality.

Contribution

It demonstrates holography's role in hiding or breaking closed timelike curves in Godel universes and introduces new supersymmetric solutions through T-duality with pp-waves.

Findings

Holography can shield or break closed timelike curves in Godel universes.

Godel universes are T-dual to pp-waves, enabling new solution generation.

Godel universes share features with de Sitter space in holographic context.

Abstract

We analyze the structure of supersymmetric Godel-like cosmological solutions of string theory. Just as the original four-dimensional Godel universe, these solutions represent rotating, topologically trivial cosmologies with a homogeneous metric and closed timelike curves. First we focus on "phenomenological" aspects of holography, and identify the preferred holographic screens associated with inertial comoving observers in Godel universes. We find that holography can serve as a chronology protection agency: The closed timelike curves are either hidden behind the holographic screen, or broken by it into causal pieces. In fact, holography in Godel universes has many features in common with de Sitter space, suggesting that Godel universes could represent a supersymmetric laboratory for addressing the conceptual puzzles of de Sitter holography. Then we initiate the investigation of "microscopic" aspects of holography of Godel universes in string theory. We show that Godel universes are T-dual to pp-waves, and use this fact to generate new Godel-like solutions of string and M-theory by T-dualizing known supersymmetric pp-wave solutions.