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.
A geodesic on the embedded two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime is the intersection with a two-plane through the ambient origin. For initial point and tangent satisfying , , , its affine parametrization is when timelike, when null and when spacelike. These solve . The spacelike geodesics are closed; timelike geodesics and null geodesics extend to both conformal infinities with infinite affine length.
For the complete observer in two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime, let be shortest angular distance. An event can signal to the observer exactly when , and can receive its signals exactly when . Equality describes its future and past observer event horizons. Their intersection is the static patch of de Sitter spacetime containing the observer. These are observer-dependent cosmological horizons; constant- circles are Cauchy hypersurfaces, so there are no Cauchy horizons in the full spacetime.
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 , with
Pulling back the ambient metric tensor gives , with
Unwrapping gives the universal cover of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime instead. The usual embedded two-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime has in signature and
Here 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 . Then
Timelike 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 , hence
Choose a future-directed timelike geodesic, so and
For , 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 tensor
The 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.
Figure 1.
Conformal cylinder and observer horizons of de Sitter spacetime compared with the timelike boundaries of the anti-de Sitter universal cover
. Details.
Introduce conformal time
It satisfies and , so the metric becomes . Choose null coordinates
Thus is positive on . Choosing the two null coordinates with these orientations gives the requested positive coefficient of .
There is a global-topology distinction in the source: unrestricted gives the universal cover of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime. The usual two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime has periodic modulo . Indeed its standard embedding is , , , and is unchanged by . The local metric and the null-coordinate calculation apply to either choice.
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 by
Thus 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 , with
On 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, introduce
Then
The 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, use
so on the universal cover
Its 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.
Figure 1.
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 gives
Writing 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 gives
A future timelike geodesic has and
Its 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 when
It 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.
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, gives
Every 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 gives
Constant- observers are timelike geodesics. Nontrivial null geodesics have affine parameter proportional to , which diverges at both . In AdS the conserved static energy is , with
For timelike curves, and
They 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 time
Multiplying 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 put
The 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 when
Equality 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 lines
Their 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.
Figure 1.
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.
For the full unit-radius two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime, the coordinate ranges are
One can use with endpoints identified. If the identification is omitted, the same line element describes the universal covering spacetime instead. The periodicity follows from the hyperboloid embedding
The induced ambient Minkowski metric is precisely the given Lorentzian metric.
Using an affine parameter , the geodesic Lagrangian is . The nonzero Christoffel symbols are
Thus the geodesic equations and their first integrals are
Here for unit-speed timelike geodesics, for null geodesics and for unit-speed spacelike geodesics. The conserved is the geodesic conserved quantity from a Killing vector for the angular symmetry.
All geodesics of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime can be written especially simply in the embedding. If is the initial point and the initial tangent, with , , , the geodesic has normal ambient acceleration . Therefore
These curves stay in the two-plane spanned by and , preserve both constraints and have no tangential acceleration. They consequently solve the geodesic equation and exhaust all initial directions.
An isometry can move the chosen point to , namely . For future-directed timelike geodesics take , obtaining
The continuous angular branch has , and every real gives a distinct timelike direction. The two null geodesics have and
For spacelike geodesics take , giving
They are closed with period in affine arclength and . In particular, is the equatorial geodesic . These three families, with reversals of parametrization allowed, are the requested complete set through the chosen point.
The conformal time substitution gives
Hence
Multiplying by gives the regular conformal cylinder of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime. Adding completes the conformal compactification; both boundary circles are spacelike. Null geodesics are straight lines through the origin. The other families have the useful diagram equations
The image sketches representative directions from each family; the formulas allow all intermediate directions.
Figure 1.
Geodesics through one point and observer horizons on the two-dimensional de Sitter conformal cylinder
. Details.
For the complete observer , let be the shortest angular distance on the circle. Since light travels one unit of angular distance per unit conformal time, an event at can signal to the observer at some finite future time precisely when
Equality defines its future observer event horizon. Likewise an event can receive a signal emitted by the observer precisely when
and equality defines the past horizon. In the lift , their branches are and . The common communication region is the diamond , the observer's static patch of de Sitter spacetime. These are the observer horizons in two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime. Every complete timelike observer has analogous horizons after a de Sitter isometry; they depend on the observer, rather than enclosing an intrinsic black-hole region.
Despite these horizons, each constant- circle is a Cauchy hypersurface of the full spacetime: any inextendible causal curve crosses it exactly once. The global spacetime is therefore globally hyperbolic and has no Cauchy horizons. The conformal boundaries lie at infinite proper time for complete timelike geodesics and infinite affine distance for complete null geodesics, so their finite height in the diagram is not a physical incompleteness.
Unit-radius two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime is the hyperboloid in three-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. Its closed coordinates are , , , with and periodic modulo . Unwrapping gives its universal covering spacetime instead.
The unrestricted spatial coordinate unwraps the spatial circle of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime. The conformal time lies in , and null geodesics have slopes . Constant- lines are Cauchy hypersurfaces: along any causal curve , so a curve cannot escape to spatial infinity in a bounded conformal-time interval. The covering spacetime is therefore globally hyperbolic, despite its observer-dependent cosmological horizons. Identifying modulo gives the de Sitter cylinder, also globally hyperbolic.