A criterion for global hyperbolicity of left-invariant Lorentz metrics on Lie groups

We show that every left-invariant Lorentz metric on a non-abelian simply connected Lie group is globally hyperbolic whenever its restriction to the commutator ideal of the Lie algebra is positive definite. We also show that a left-invariant Lorentz metric on the three-dimensional Heisenberg group is globally hyperbolic if and only if its restriction to the center of the Lie algebra is positive definite or degenerate.