The Novikov self-consistency principle, also known as the Novikov self-consistency conjecture, is a principle developed by Russian physicist Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov in the mid-1980s to solve the problem of paradoxes in time travel, which is theoretically permitted in certain solutions of general relativity (solutions containing what are known as closed timelike curves). Stated simply, the Novikov consistency principle asserts that if an event exists that would give rise to a paradox, or to any "change" to the past whatsoever, then the probability of that event is zero. In short, it says that it is impossible to create time paradoxes.
Read more about Novikov Self-consistency Principle: History of The Principle, Potential Implications For Paradoxes, Assumptions of The Novikov Self-consistency Principle, Time Loop Logic, Pre-Novikov Examples, Fictional Usage
Famous quotes containing the word principle:
“Thanks to all. For the great republic—for the principle it lives by, and keeps alive—for man’s vast future,—thanks to all.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)