Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Curt Jaimungal: General Relativity Is NOT Deterministic (Here's the Proof)

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Mar 12, 2026

A deep dive into why Einstein’s general relativity can fail to fix the future. He highlights Cauchy horizons, closed time-like curves, and spacetimes that break predictability. Examples include charged or rotating black holes, anti-de Sitter space, and Gödel universes. The talk also questions whether quantum gravity or cosmic censorship can restore determinism.

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ANECDOTE

Host's Prelaunch Doubts And Preference For Rigor

Curt Jaimungal recalled pre-launch doubts about the podcast and introduced Shopify as a partner in the ad read.
He used that personal hesitation to segue into discussing why he prefers technical rigor over oversimplified explanations.

INSIGHT

General Relativity Can Fail Determinism

General relativity (GR) is often called deterministic, but that claim is technically false in many solutions to Einstein's equations.
Curt Jaimungal highlights that there exist smooth space-times where specifying the complete state at one time does not uniquely determine the future.

INSIGHT

Local Versus Global Determinism In Spacetime

Determinism requires precise definitions: local versus global determinism differ in how initial data determine futures.
Global determinism needs a Cauchy surface; some GR solutions provably lack any slicing that gives a universal 'moment'.

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Many people think physics / reality is either guided by a probabilistic distribution or is “determined.” Actually, there’s a third, far‐more unsettling option. Curt Jaimungal explains why Einstein’s general relativity isn't actually deterministic. He discusses how Cauchy horizons and closed time-like curves break predictability, showing that math and physics don't always guarantee a set future for our universe. This is a solo deep‑dive. One that he's been meaning to make for a while. As a listener of TOE you can get a special 20% off discount to The Economist and all it has to offer! Visit https://www.economist.com/toe FOLLOW: - Substack: https://curtjaimungal.substack.com/subscribe - Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt - Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs - Crypto: https://commerce.coinbase.com/checkout/de803625-87d3-4300-ab6d-85d4258834a9 - PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=XUBHNMFXUX5S4 LINKS MENTIONED: - This Cosmologist Discovered Something Strange: https://youtu.be/73IdQGgfxas - The Most Abused Theorem in Math (Gödel's Incompleteness): https://youtu.be/OH-ybecvuEo - Harvard Scientist: "There Is No Quantum Multiverse" | Jacob Barandes [Part 3]: https://youtu.be/wrUvtqr4wOs - The Quantum Mechanics of Time Travel: https://youtu.be/yCQ_3qE6SmQ - The Dangerous Lie About Understanding: https://youtu.be/eASBzSNB8ts - Discovery That Changed Physics! Gravity Is Not a Force!: https://youtu.be/3pZNzF6LBII - Einstein's Amazing Theory of Gravity: Black Holes and Novel Ideas in Cosmology, Roger Penrose | LMS: https://youtu.be/xAcvNnSrkcM - The Geodesic Equation: Introduction and Derivation: https://youtu.be/5_79m-kHxts - Interpretation of the Wavefunction: https://youtu.be/R-5hjmV-bdY - Is the Future Already Set in Stone?: https://youtu.be/JBkB2D-_ZH0 - What Is Astrophysics Actually Explained: https://youtu.be/TCrRs_OBN0E - What Triggered the Big Bang? | How the Universe Works: https://youtu.be/gup4Cc0Ube0 - Visualization of the Gödel Universe: https://youtu.be/078jOiaevAQ - Iceberg of String Theory: https://youtu.be/X4PdPnQuwjY - The 300-Year-Old Physics Mistake No One Noticed: https://youtu.be/Tghl6aS5A3M - JB Manchak: Spacetime Asymmetry: https://youtu.be/lFbfhISreFY - Carlo Rovelli [TOE]: https://youtu.be/hF4SAketEHY - General Relativity Is Not (Technically) Deterministic: https://curtjaimungal.substack.com/p/general-relativity-is-not-deterministic - The Strong Cosmic Censorship Conjecture by Maxime Van de Moortel [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2501.13180 - Some Black Holes Erase Your Past: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180221091334.htm - Determinism and General Relativity [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2009.07555 - A Family of Local Deterministic Models for Singlet Quantum State Correlations [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/html/2408.09579v1 - Examples of Cosmological Spacetimes Without CMC Cauchy Surfaces: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11005-024-01843-7 - Asymptotic Dynamics on the Worldlines for Spinning Particles [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.07863 - World Line: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_line - Counterexamples in Topology [Book]: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4612-6290-9 - Quantum Charged Black Holes [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2404.07192 - Charged Hayward Black Hole with a Cosmological Constant and Surrounded by Quintessence and a Cloud of Strings [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2511.02191 - Strong Cosmic Censorship in Charged Black-Hole Spacetimes: Still Subtle [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1808.03631 - Chaos and Deterministic Versus Stochastic Non-Linear Modelling: https://academic.oup.com/jrsssb/article/54/2/303/7035838 - Reopening the Hole Argument by Klaas Landsman [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2206.04943 - Is Time Travel Too Strange to Be Possible? [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1704.02295 - Counterexamples in Topology [Book]: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4612-6290-9

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