The topological censorship theorem (if valid) states that general relativity does not allow an observer to probe the topology of spacetime: any topological structure collapses too quickly to allow light to traverse it. More precisely, in a globally hyperbolic, asymptotically flat spacetime satisfying the null energy condition, every causal curve from past null infinity to future null infinity is fixed-endpoint homotopic to a curve in a topologically trivial neighbourhood of infinity.
A 2013 paper by Sergey Krasnikov claims that the topological censorship theorem was not proven in the original article because of a gap in the proof.
References
- S.V. Krasnikov (2013). ""Topological Censorship" is not proven". Gravitation and Cosmology. 19 (1): 54. Bibcode:2013GrCo...19...54K. doi:10.1134/S0202289313010064. S2CID 121787573.
- John L. Friedman; Kristin Schleich & Donald M. Witt (1993). "Topological Censorship". Phys. Rev. Lett. 71 (10): 1486–1489. arXiv:gr-qc/9305017. Bibcode:1993PhRvL..71.1486F. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.71.1486. PMID 10054420.
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