Time Travel: Why Only to CTC's Creation?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the limitations of time travel to the past, specifically regarding closed timelike curves (CTCs). It is established that time travel can only occur to the point of a CTC's creation, as space cannot curve into a CTC if it was not originally designed as such. Observational evidence indicates that Earth is not currently within a CTC, as events do not repeat, supporting the notion that time travel to the past remains speculative and forbidden in our physical spacetime.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of closed timelike curves (CTCs)
  • Basic knowledge of spacetime concepts in physics
  • Familiarity with general relativity principles
  • Awareness of observational cosmology
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the mathematical framework of closed timelike curves in general relativity
  • Explore the implications of spacetime curvature on time travel theories
  • Investigate observational evidence against the existence of CTCs
  • Study the philosophical implications of time travel and causality
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for physicists, cosmologists, and anyone interested in the theoretical aspects of time travel and the nature of spacetime.

Starlover
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In theorized travel to the past -- in particular with a closed timelike curve (CTC), why is it possible to only go back in time to the point at which the CTC was created?

Questions related to this would be:
1) Can space curve into a CTC if it was not originally in a CTC?
2) How can we be sure that we (or Earth) are not already in a CTC? (Is it because there is no gravity source powerful enough to create a CTC, in our immediate vicinity?)
 
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As time travel to the past is thought to be forbidden, and CTCs are thought to be forbidden in physical space times, this thread is just speculation.

1) Space can't curve into a CTC, a CTC is a specific everywhere forward directed time-like curve in space-time which turns in on itself.

2) Things don't keep repeating, i.e. we don't keep going back to the same events, so by observation, we can deduce we are not in a CTC.
 

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