Can anything exist without time constituting at LEAST part of our observable existence? Is it eternal because it defines the order of occurrence? In other words because it defines that order there must always be a something before the after.
Yet if true it means it has a physical presence because it would be part of that observable existence.
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However it can also be represented in the abstract as an invention of the human consciousness that gives us a sense of order, a before and after so to speak. But this would not explain how the before and after can into being.
Even physicists who study time agree these questions are very difficult to answer even though many believe it is an ontologically “basic†or primary concept, of our existence and not made up of, or dependent on, anything else.
Yet if it is part of our physical existence we should be able to answer some of these questions by examining our existence.
For example we can directly observe or perceived matter or space however time can be perceived only in the abstract as an irreversible physical, chemical, and biological change in our existence which does not agree with the physicists who assume that it is basic part or our existence.
This is especially problematic for those who use Einstein’s theories to define gravity because they believe that it is the result of a physical curvature in a space-time dimension is responsible for it, the evolution of the universe and our existence.
This belief is bolstered by the fact that to this date his theoretical predictions are in complete agreement with observations.
However, there is another interpretation of his theories that would not be dependent on the physical existence of time making it possible for life to exist for these physicists without time.
The standard interpretation of his mathematics suggests that gravity is cause by a displacement in a three-dimensional space manifold with respect to time.
However an equally valid one defines gravity in terms of an environment consisting of only four *spatial* dimensions because by defining its properties in terms of the equation E=mc^2 and the constant velocity of light gives one the ability to redefine a unit of time he associated with the casualty of gravity in his space-time universe to unit of space in one consisting of only four *spatial* dimensions.
In other words one could explain gravity by assuming that it is a force created by a spatial displacement in a "surface" of three-dimensional space with respect to fourth *spatial* dimension as well as one in a space-time dimension.
This allows one to define gravity and evolution of the universe not in terms of physical properties of time but those of space which as mentioned earlier we are more familiar with.
But why should we care if they give us the same numerical results.
Because understand the true nature how forces interact to create our environment may opens doors to new and more accurate understanding of how our universe works.
For example the caloric theory of heat assumed that it was an interaction of a self-repellent fluid called caloric that flows from hotter bodies to colder bodies. Caloric was also thought of as a weightless gas that could pass in and out of pores in solids and liquids.
However the realization heat is transferred by the interactions of particles allowed for the development of thermodynamics and for our modern understanding of entropy which serves one of the physical foundations of our modern understanding of the evolution of our universe.
Similarly many physicists assume Einstein’s mathematics defines the forces that control the evolution of the universe depend on the physical existence of time in conjunction three-spatial dimensions.
However as was mentioned earlier an equally valid interpretation of his mathematics would be to assume that it is a result of the interaction of a higher or fourth *spatial* dimension with three-dimensional space.
Granted we may never be able to directly observe a time or a fourth *spatial* dimensions but that does not mean we cannot use those concepts to help us understand the world around us.
For example changing our perspective on the casuistry of the forces causing gravity and the evolution of the universe such as reinterpreting Einstein’s equations in such a manner, may allow us to answer some unanswered questions in modern physicists such as the true nature of Dark Energy that is causing the accelerated expansion of the universe.
If the walls of an above ground pool filled with water collapse the elevated two-dimensional surface of the water will flow or expand and accelerate outward towards the three-dimensional environment sounding it.
Yet we know from observations of the cosmic background radiation that presently our three-dimensional universe has an average energy component equal to about 3.7 degrees Kelvin.
However this means if we reinterpret Einstein’s mathematics in terms of their spatial properties gravitational energy would be defined by a depression in the three-dimensional "surface" of our universe with respect to a four spatial dimension while the potential energy component of 3.7 degree Kelvin of the cosmic background radiation could be defined as an elevation in that surface with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension.
Similarly to the water in a pool if the "surface" of a three-dimensional manifold was elevated with respect to a fourth *spatial* dimension as Einstein tell us as it would be if one redefined his space-time universe in terms of a four spatial dimensions then it would be accelerated outward for the same reason as the water in a pool whose sides had collapsed.
Changing one’s perspective on the physical structure of our environment can have far reaching consequents for our understanding of it For example 1543 Nicolaus Copernicus proposed that the sun not the earth was the center of the universe. That change in perspective enable Johannes Kepler to formulate his laws of planetary motion which then gave Issac Newton the ability to derive the laws of gravity. Without that change in perspective none of that would have happened.
Maybe physicists should try to live without time at least for a while.
Later Jeff
Copyright 2019 Jeffrey O’Callaghan
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