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Causality
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==== Geometrical significance ==== Causality has the properties of antecedence and contiguity.<ref name="Born"/><ref name="Sklar"/> These are topological, and are ingredients for space-time geometry. As developed by [[Alfred Robb]], these properties allow the derivation of the notions of time and space.<ref>[[Alfred Robb|Robb, A.A.]] (1936). [https://archive.org/details/geometryoftimean032218mbp ''Geometry of Time and Space''], Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK.</ref> [[Max Jammer]] writes "the Einstein postulate ... opens the way to a straightforward construction of the causal topology ... of Minkowski space."<ref>[[Max Jammer|Jammer, M.]] (1982). 'Einstein and quantum physics', pp. 59β76 in ''Albert Einstein: Historical and Cultural Perspectives; the Centennial Symposium in Jerusalem'', edited by G. Holton, Y. Elkana, Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ, {{ISBN|0-691-08299-5}}, p. 61.</ref> Causal efficacy propagates no faster than light.<ref>Naber, G.L. (1992). ''The Geometry of Minkowski Spacetime: An Introduction to the Mathematics of the Special Theory of Relativity'', Springer, New York, {{ISBN|978-1-4419-7837-0}}, pp. 4β5.</ref> Thus, the notion of causality is metaphysically prior to the notions of time and space. In practical terms, this is because use of the relation of causality is necessary for the interpretation of empirical experiments. Interpretation of experiments is needed to establish the physical and geometrical notions of time and space.
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