On the universal cover, and . The two conformal boundaries are timelike. Null geodesics are and can travel from either boundary to the center in finite coordinate time, despite taking infinite physical affine parameter to reach the boundary. There is no event horizon for the complete central static observer. The spacetime is not globally hyperbolic, unlike the global conformal cylinder of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime; well-posed field evolution requires boundary conditions as well as initial data.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 68 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The local metric tensors do not determine the global coordinate identifications. The usual complete two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime is the hyperboloid in ambient signature , withPulling back the ambient metric tensor gives , withUnwrapping gives the universal cover of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime instead. The usual embedded two-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime has in signature andHere and is initially periodic modulo . The time circles are closed timelike curves. Its physically standard universal cover removes that identification:The two signs of describe two spatial ends; imposing would retain only half of this complete model.
Both spacetimes have constant curvature and are geodesically complete. In the paper's convention their Ricci scalars are respectively and . Their embeddings show that geodesics are intersections with planes through the ambient origin. They nevertheless have very different causal structures.
For the geodesics of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime, use an affine parameter , normalization and conserved momentum . ThenTimelike geodesics extend to both infinite proper times; is a simple example. Null geodesics obey , so their affine parameter is also infinite at either temporal end. Spacelike geodesics have , obey and are closed curves on the embedded cylinder; is its simplest spacelike geodesic circle. Unwrapping the spatial circle removes closure but not completeness.
For the geodesics of two-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime, the timelike Killing vector gives . The normalization is , henceChoose a future-directed timelike geodesic, so andFor , it oscillates radially with proper period ; gives the central geodesic . In both cases, global time advances by over a proper time interval . The curve is closed on the original hyperboloid, while its lift on the universal cover is nonclosed and future-directed. Null geodesics have and reach either spatial end only at infinite affine parameter. Spacelike geodesics satisfy and also have infinite proper length toward either end. Thus the finite coordinate time discussed below does not imply physical geodesic incompleteness.
The conformal cylinder of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime follows by setting :Its past and future conformal boundaries are spacelike circles. Null geodesics have and can travel only a finite angular distance over the entire infinite proper-time history. For the complete observer , an event can send a signal to that observer precisely when its shortest angular distance is less than . The observer horizons in two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime are therefore the null curves ; its past signal horizon has . These are observer horizons, without curvature singularities. Their intersection bounds a static patch with metric tensorThe horizons at are regular Killing horizons beyond which this static chart fails, while the global coordinates remain smooth.
For the conformal strip of two-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime, set . On its universal cover,The two conformal boundaries are timelike. A null ray from the center approaches a boundary after coordinate time , though its affine parameter diverges. Every interior event can signal to the complete central static observer in finite global time, so that observer has no event horizon. A Poincaré horizon concerns a restricted coordinate patch, and accelerated observers can have different causal horizons.
Finally, the global de Sitter cylinder and its spatial cover are globally hyperbolic: constant-time slices are Cauchy hypersurfaces. The anti-de Sitter universal cover is not globally hyperbolic, because timelike infinity admits incoming signals within finite global time. A field's evolution therefore requires boundary conditions at its two conformal boundaries in addition to initial data. The opposite placement of the conformal boundaries explains why de Sitter observers have cosmological horizons despite global hyperbolicity, while the central anti-de Sitter observer has no event horizon despite the failure of global hyperbolicity.
Conformal cylinder and observer horizons of de Sitter spacetime compared with the timelike boundaries of the anti-de Sitter universal cover
. Details. Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 75 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Take the causally unwrapped universal cover of Anti-de Sitter spacetime, with curvature radius . In global coordinates,The ordinary radial Penrose diagram is a half-strip: the left edge is a regular center and the right edge is a timelike conformal boundary. For displaying signed spatial motion, the figure doubles the radial diameter to . Its two ends represent antipodal spatial directions of the higher-dimensional boundary; they are not a claim that the full AdS boundary has two disconnected components.
Conformal strip of the universal cover of anti-de Sitter spacetime, with timelike conformal boundaries and past/future timelike ends
. Details. The vertical edges are spatial infinity at every finite global time, forming the timelike boundary . The arrows mark the future and past timelike ends , conventionally and . There are no separate null-infinity edges like Minkowski : radial null rays satisfy and reach the timelike boundary in finite global time. Their physical affine parameter is nevertheless infinite there. The drawing is a finite excerpt of an infinitely tall strip, not an identification of its top and bottom. On the original hyperboloid global time is periodic and there are closed timelike curves; unwrapping it is essential to the usual physical maximally extended AdS spacetime.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 75 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The universal cover of maximally extended AdS is not globally hyperbolic. Its timelike conformal boundary can send signals into the interior after any chosen initial slice, so bulk initial data alone do not determine evolution. In the conformal strip, a null ray can run from to the center in global time ; it need not meet a sufficiently earlier constant-time slice within the interior spacetime.
The compact-diamond test makes the obstruction explicit. Choose two central events with times and in units . Events at , lie between them causally, because their radial coordinate separation is less than2. They form a sequence in the causal diamond with no limit in the AdS interior. The diamond is therefore noncompact. Boundary conditions, such as reflecting conditions on the conformal boundary, can supply a well-posed initial-boundary-value problem; they do not turn the boundary-free interior into a globally hyperbolic spacetime in the usual definition. The periodic-time hyperboloid is also non-globally-hyperbolic, already because it has closed timelike curves.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 55 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Both metrics have curvature radius one and signature . Their global topology must be specified as well as their local metric. The usual two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime is the hyperboloid in three-dimensional Minkowski spacetime, parametrized byThus and is periodic modulo , for example . Spatial slices are circles. Unwrapping instead gives the universal cover, not the usual closed spatial model.
The ordinary two-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime hyperboloid is in ambient signature , withOn this quadric and is periodic modulo . The closed time circles are timelike, so it contains closed timelike curves. The usual physically causal AdS model is its universal cover, for which , with time no longer identified. The signed radial coordinate has two spatial ends; restricting to would retain only half of this global model. The metric by itself cannot distinguish periodic time from the cover. The scalar curvature is for de Sitter and for AdS in the Ricci convention of Q2. Both are maximally symmetric and have no curvature singularity; these toy two-dimensional metrics illustrate causal geometry rather than the ordinary four-dimensional matter field equations.
For the conformal cylinder of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime, introduceThenThe conformal boundaries are spacelike circles, representing past and future infinity. Null geodesics are straight lines , with the periodic spatial identification. The finite total conformal-time interval explains the cosmological horizons: light cannot complete a full trip around the circle during the entire history.
For the conformal strip of two-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime, useso on the universal coverIts two conformal boundaries at are timelike. Null rays are , and the strip extends for arbitrarily long coordinate time. The distances in these conformal diagrams are not physical lengths: a conformal boundary may be reached in finite coordinate time while lying infinitely far away in physical affine parameter.
Conformal cylinder and observer horizons of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime, compared with the timelike boundaries and geodesics of the AdS universal cover
. Details. The sides of the de Sitter diagram are identified; its top and bottom are spacelike infinities. The AdS diagram shows a finite window of an infinite time strip, with no identification of top and bottom. Null rays have slope one in both diagrams. The blue curves are timelike geodesics, while the colored de Sitter lines bound the central observer's causal domains.
The geodesics of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime can be derived directly. Let an overdot denote an affine parameter normalized so that the tangent norm is for timelike, null and spacelike geodesics. The cyclic coordinate gives conserved , and normalization givesWriting reduces this to . For a future-directed timelike geodesic,The spatially comoving curves are geodesics, and every timelike geodesic extends through all , with infinite proper time in both directions. Initially comoving nearby observers have physical separation proportional to , displaying de Sitter's tidal defocusing. Relative separation can initially decrease for other initial velocities; not every pair is monotonically separating.
For a nontrivial null geodesic, and . Hence the conformal infinities at occur at infinite affine parameter, despite their finite values of . For a spacelike geodesic, and . Over a full affine-length period , integrating gives a change . Thus the spacelike geodesics close on the usual cylinder. The special case is the equatorial circle . These closed spacelike curves do not threaten causality.
The geodesics of two-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime instead conserve . Their norm equation givesA future timelike geodesic has andIts turning points are . Timelike geodesics oscillate rather than escaping to the spatial boundary. For , the central curve is geodesic. Integrating shows that a full proper-time period advances coordinate time by . They close on the periodically identified hyperboloid but remain complete nonclosed curves on the universal cover. Geodesics leaving reconverge at after proper time , illustrating AdS tidal focusing. A static observer at nonzero fixed is accelerated, not one of these oscillating free trajectories.
For AdS null geodesics, and . They approach either timelike conformal boundary at infinite affine parameter, while the coordinate-time travel from the centre is only . A spacelike geodesic has and connects the two spatial ends with infinite affine length. Both global models are geodesically complete. Reflecting a signal at the AdS conformal boundary is a choice of boundary condition for fields; it is not an automatic continuation of a geodesic at a finite affine endpoint.
For the complete de Sitter observer at , let be the shortest angular distance. An event at can send a signal reaching the observer at a finite future time exactly whenIt can receive a signal sent by the observer at a finite past time exactly when . Equality gives the future and past observer horizons in two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime; their null branches are respectively and on the displayed cylinder. Their intersection is the central static patch, . All complete timelike geodesic observers have analogous horizons by de Sitter symmetry. These are observer-dependent cosmological horizons, not singularities of the global coordinates or Cauchy horizons.
In contrast, the complete central AdS observer can exchange signals with every event at finite : the conformal distance is finite and the observer exists for all . Its static Killing vector has squared norm everywhere. Thus global AdS on its cover has no cosmological event horizon for this observer, although other restricted patches or accelerated observers can have horizons.
The causal predictability distinction is also important. Global de Sitter is globally hyperbolic: constant- circles are Cauchy surfaces. A causal curve is monotone in and satisfies ; if it ended at finite , compactness of the spatial circle would allow an endpoint and extension. Hence an inextendible causal curve crosses every such slice once. AdS on the cover has no closed timelike curves, but it is not globally hyperbolic. For two central events at and , with , their causal diamond contains events at and arbitrarily large , so it is not compact. Initial data alone do not determine field evolution without conditions at the timelike conformal boundaries. de Sitter has spacelike conformal infinities and cosmological observer horizons; covered AdS has timelike conformal infinities and requires boundary data. The distinction between the AdS quadric and its universal cover is also explained in David Tong's general relativity lectures.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 60 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The physical spherical coordinates cover , , , and with periodic identification. The center and the polar axes are the usual coordinate singularities, rather than physical curvature singularities; a regular polar chart restricts and . For the null coordinates,Thus the physical metric tensor isThe conformal transformation followed by , gives , , andConsequently . Finally , converts to , yieldingThe ranges must retain their joint constraints:Equivalently, and , with . The angles retain their original ranges and identifications. Extending to negative values would double-count the radial polar geometry. The conformal factor isThe unphysical metric tensor extends onto the Einstein static universe, while physical Minkowski spacetime occupies the triangular region in its radial Penrose diagram. The edge is the regular center and belongs to the physical region away from its endpoints.
The conformal boundary consists of the following infinities. Future null infinity has , hence with , and corresponds to finite with . Past null infinity has , hence , and corresponds to finite with . Future timelike infinity is , past timelike infinity is , and spacelike infinity is . Although angles label points on null infinity, their two-spheres collapse at these three endpoint locations in the compactified picture.
The radial Minkowski conformal diagram and the endpoints of timelike, null and spacelike geodesics
. Details. For the geodesic endpoints in Minkowski conformal compactification, one can check the limits directly. A timelike inertial trajectory is with . At both and tend to , so and the trajectory ends at future timelike infinity. At both tend to , giving past timelike infinity. This includes a stationary inertial worldline with bounded .
For a null inertial trajectory, . As , , so has a finite limit while ; its future endpoint lies on future null infinity. As , , giving a finite limiting and , hence a past endpoint on past null infinity. Radial null geodesic paths have constant. A ray passing through the center changes its angular direction; in the angle-suppressed radial diagram it reflects at rather than terminating there.
A spacelike geodesic is also a straight line, now parametrized so that . At either end, asymptotically, , , and the endpoint is spacelike infinity. A radial spacelike line at has two opposite-angle halves which project onto the same horizontal interval in the diagram.
The conformal compactification endpoints occur at finite but at infinite physical proper time or affine parameter; Minkowski spacetime is geodesically complete. The conformal preservation of null geodesic paths does not preserve an affine parameter: if is physically affine, an unphysical affine parameter satisfies up to a constant. Along a complete null ray this can have a finite integral at infinity. Timelike and spacelike physical geodesic paths are not generally geodesics of the rescaled metric tensor, so their drawn curves must not be interpreted as freely falling unphysical observers.
Finally, every physical event can send an outgoing null ray to future null infinity, so is all of Minkowski spacetime. Its black-hole region and intrinsic event horizon are empty. The null edges in the diagram are infinity, not horizons concealing part of the physical manifold. Complete inertial observers likewise have no observer event horizon. Accelerated observers restricted to a Rindler wedge can have a Rindler horizon, but that is observer-dependent and does not contradict the horizon-free Minkowski spacetime. The conformal diagram compactifies infinity; it does not introduce a physical horizon.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 61 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Take both curvature radii to be one. Coordinate ranges depend on the global identification, which a line element alone cannot fix. For the ordinary two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime,This is the unit hyperboloid in ambient signature , parametrized by , , . Unwrapping instead gives its universal cover.
For two-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime, the embedding in ambient signature is parametrized by , , . On this hyperboloid and is periodic modulo , creating closed timelike circles. The physically usual universal cover removes that periodicity:Both signs of are needed for the full two-dimensional spatial line. Taking without an additional construction would omit one of its two ends. The following causal comparison uses the AdS universal cover.
Both models are maximally symmetric Lorentzian manifolds, with constant sectional curvature and no curvature singularities. In the paper's convention their Ricci scalars are respectively and . The de Sitter spatial scale factor contracts to a nonzero minimum and then expands; is not a big-bang singularity. The AdS metric is static, and is timelike everywhere because .
The embeddings give a concise classification of all affinely parametrized geodesics. Geodesic acceleration in the ambient space is normal to the hyperboloid, hence proportional to . Differentiating the constraint and setting , with for timelike, null and spacelike curves, givesEvery solution stays in the two-plane spanned by its initial point and tangent , so every geodesic is a plane section through the ambient origin. For de Sitter, these are for timelike curves, for null curves, and for spacelike curves. Thus timelike geodesics and null geodesics are complete and nonclosed, while spacelike geodesics are closed circles on the ordinary hyperboloid. These are the geodesics of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime.
For AdS the roles of the circular and hyperbolic solutions are reversed: timelike curves are , null curves are , and spacelike curves are . Timelike curves close after proper time on the hyperboloid, but their lifts on the universal cover continue to ever later time rather than forming closed curves. All three kinds extend for arbitrary affine parameter. This is geodesics of two-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime, not an assertion that geodesics reach the conformal boundary in finite physical affine length.
The coordinate first integrals make the behavior concrete. In de Sitter, spatial rotational symmetry gives a conserved , and normalization givesConstant- observers are timelike geodesics. Nontrivial null geodesics have affine parameter proportional to , which diverges at both . In AdS the conserved static energy is , withFor timelike curves, andThey oscillate through the center and never reach spatial infinity; is the geodesic. For null curves, , so both ends are at infinite affine parameter. Spacelike AdS geodesics likewise extend to the two spatial ends.
For the conformal structure, introduce de Sitter conformal timeMultiplying by gives the conformal cylinder of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime. The past and future conformal infinities are spacelike circles at . Null curves are modulo . Although the conformal-time interval is finite, their physical affine parameters and timelike observers' proper times are infinite at its ends. Constant- circles are Cauchy hypersurfaces; global de Sitter is globally hyperbolic.
For AdS putThe conformal strip of two-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime has unbounded time and timelike conformal boundaries at . Null curves have . A signal from any finite reaches the center in coordinate time , and a null curve crosses the entire conformal strip in time . This finite coordinate travel time coexists with infinite physical affine length to the boundary. The covering spacetime has no closed timelike curves, but is not globally hyperbolic: causal curves can arrive from timelike infinity without meeting a proposed initial slice. Field evolution consequently requires boundary conditions as well as initial data. Unwrapping time removes closed timelike curves, not the timelike boundary.
The contrast in observer event horizons follows directly from these null curves. For the complete de Sitter observer , let be shortest angular distance. An event can send a signal to this observer before its future endpoint precisely whenEquality is its future observer event horizon. It can receive a signal emitted by the observer after its past endpoint precisely when , whose equality is the past horizon. In the observer's fundamental domain these horizons are null linesTheir intersection encloses the observer's static patch of de Sitter spacetime, the diamond . They are observer-dependent cosmological horizons, not curvature singularities or Cauchy horizons. Every inertial observer has the corresponding horizons by de Sitter symmetry.
For the complete AdS static observer at , every event at finite can send a signal to the observer, and can receive one, because time is unbounded and the coordinate distance is finite. Thus there is no corresponding global static-observer event horizon. The lapse never vanishes in these coordinates. Restricted accelerated-observer patches can have observer horizons, but those are distinct from the global static model. On the original periodic-time AdS hyperboloid, the more serious issue is closed timelike curves.
Conformal cylinder of de Sitter and covering anti-de Sitter strip, showing null geodesics, observer horizons and causal boundaries
. Details. The figure identifies the de Sitter spatial edges and displays only a finite time window of the AdS covering strip, whose time continues indefinitely. Solid red curves are null geodesics; the oscillating AdS curve is a timelike geodesic. The shaded de Sitter diamond is the static observer's two-way communication region, not the entire spacetime.
The concise comparison is de Sitter has spacelike conformal infinities and cosmological observer horizons; covering AdS has timelike conformal boundaries and no horizon for an eternal global static observer. Both are constant-curvature and geodesically complete, but their geodesic recurrence, global topology, causal boundaries and initial-value properties differ.
Poincaré horizon 2026-10-14
The boundary of a chosen Poincare coordinates on anti-de Sitter spacetime patch inside the full spacetime is a null coordinate horizon. It is not the timelike conformal boundary, and not a curvature singularity. Timelike geodesics can cross it in finite proper time while the patch time diverges. In a signed-diameter conformal strip, the patch containing satisfies .




