Relativity : A Matter of Causality
Pineda Ruiz, Antonio (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Física)
Institut de Física d'Altes Energies

Date:	2026
Abstract:	We take causality and uniqueness of events observation as our driving forces. They are embedded in the way we define distinct observers, which then require a finite time to communicate between each other. This inevitably leads to the existence of a maximal transfer-information velocity between arbitrary (not necessarily inertial) reference frames. Inertial reference frames are defined by fixing the geometrical properties of (spatial) distance without any reference to relativity, electromagnetism, or laws of physics in general. For these inertial reference frames, the causality condition fixes the causal group to be the orthochronous inhomogeneous Lorentz group times dilatations. The mathematics we will use are quite basic.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2020-112965GB-I00 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2023-146142NB-I00
Note:	Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Causality ; Special Relativity ; General Relativity
Published in:	Foundations of Physics, Vol. 56, Num. 1 (February 2026) , art. 2, ISSN 1572-9516

DOI: 10.1007/s10701-025-00897-4

24 p, 2.3 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles