Causality, 4-Geons and Dark Energy: A Radical View of Space-Time

A discussion of space-time and causality is presented within a relativistic framework but with a consideration of quantum physics, from both a philosophical and physical perspective, in response to “On the Feasibility of Time Travel and Its Implications” by Amaral. This discussion leads to an argument in favour of 4-geons as introduced by Hadley; hypothesised particle-like structures in space-time with closed time-like curves that generate aspects of quantum physics from within general relativity. 4-geons are then used to propose a novel and testable model for ‘dark energy’ in terms of negative mass singularities along with a heuristic explanation for large-scale causality that includes the arrow of time. The argument assumes the ‘open-endedness conjecture’ introduced by the current author in “An Example 4-Geon.” The end result is a model that manifests small-scale acausality and large-scale causality, compatible with both quantum and relativistic physics. This shows Einstein's field equations need no cosmological constant or alteration in order to be consistent with cosmological observation. Further, mass and charge become properties of the topology of space-time and the classical limit reduces to the electro-vacuum solutions, showing that there are more approaches to unification than are generally considered. The paper closes with a discussion of ‘free will’ noting that under the open-endedness conjecture ‘free will’ would be indistinguishable from a measurement.