A Question

R

Rainier13

Temporal Novice
So in the world of time travel, where do the boundries begin, and where do they end? Can a person or entity travel "back" in time? Isn't the past already set. If you could go back in time, could you really change the past, or would you only trapped in a sort of "bubble" where you could not interact with people or situations, since the past is already set.

Now, let's say that you can't travel back in time. So if you go forward in time, say a week, now that you are there, you can't go back because "the past" is already set. So considering this, if you could go back to your own "time", would you now be trapped in this "bubble" where now you could not interact with your own time.

I am not to schooled in the theory of time travel, however the thought of it highly peaks my interest. I would appreciate any "schooling" that anyone has to offer, or just to b.s.

--with every passing second, we all travel in time.

Rainier13
 
Hi there!

Hello,

My name is Xander Ortiz. I am 18 years old, and I live in Texas. I have been studying theories of Time Travel for quite some time now, however I just joined this "club" yesterday. So I would love it if we could be friends and learn together. You know, like share information we learn and already know about. Time Travel is the most interesting thing to me of ALL of the "mysteries of the Universe."

First of all, I personally believe that to travel BACKWARDS in time, you must approach the speed of light. Believe it or not, there have been several successful experiments that have been performed world-wide. Perhaps the most common is the one involving the two Atomic Clocks and a Super Sonic Jet. Here it is (you'll love this!):

You have two Atomic Clocks that are synchronized to each other EXACTLY. One of the two clocks is loaded in a Super Sonic Jet of some kind, while the other one stays on the ground "stationary" next to you. (I put quotation marks around 'stationary' because the earth IS always moving, which affects some experiments) The jet takes off and flies around the world and back as fast as man has created any jet to travel.

When the jet returns you WILL notice a difference in the two clocks. The one that rode in the jet will be noticeably slower than the one that remained "stationary" next to you. This is merely because when any object approaches the speed of light, time for that object begins to slow down. This theory is VERY credible in that Albert Einstein perfected it (Special Theories of Relativity). Anything that is not "stationary" is "approaching the speed of light." Remember that. Even YOU riding in your car at 70 mph are experiencing time at a slower rate than the outside world. Althought the difference is perhaps incalculably minute, it is true.

With this having been said, the question that I have not had answered yet is, "Is the Atomic Clock that rode in the jet affected, or the outside world?" If the Atomic Clock is the only thing affected, then Time Travel can only effect the person doing it. However, if Atomic Clock REALLY is not just becoming "younger" and is slowing down because ALL of Time is slowind down for it, then Time Travel is possible in that we can affect the past.

I hope I did not confuze you too much, but this is how I think. If you need anything else, or have any information that could help me, please tell me. Thank you.
 
Now, let's say that you can't travel back in time. So if you go forward in time, say a week, now that you are there, you can't go back because "the past" is already set. So considering this, if you could go back to your own "time", would you now be trapped in this "bubble" where now you could not interact with your own time.

Hey Rainier, I'll try to help answer this for ya:

The reason you cannot travel back to the past after going to the future is not because the past is already set. This area of time travel is very opinion-based, but in my opinion that fatalistic view doesn't stop you. What stops you from traveling back to the past can be proven by the twins "paradox."

Jim and Jon are twins (EXACT same age). Let's say Jim travels to the future at 99% the speed of light while Jon sits on Earth. Jim travels to a star situated 10 light years from Earth. Jim flies to the star and back, at that constant 99% the speed of light. When Jim returns, the trip, from his POV, has taken less than three years.

From Jon's POV, it has been just over 20 years. If they started in 2000, it is now 2020 and Jon is seven years older than Jim.

Note that Jim cannot "get back" to 2007 (there being six years' round-up travel time after departure) this way, in order to reequalize his age with Jon's. If he reverses his trajectory, he will succeed only in leaping another seventeen years into Jon's future. High-speed motion is a one-way journey into the future.

Did that help...or did I just confuse you more? /ttiforum/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
Ranier,

Here are a couple of books you should buy at Border's (or any bookstore):

"Relativity: The Special and General Theory", Albert Einstein
"Six Easy Pieces", Richard Feynman
"Six Not So Easy Pieces", Richard Feynman
"The Special Theory of Relativity", David Bohm

All four books were written by the best theorists, are presented for the general non-physicist/mathematician public and they are all available for under $15.00 each

From EInstein and Bohm you'll get a very good overview of Special Relativity and some General Relativity from Einstein.

Feynman will give you a good foundation in general physics as well as chapters on Special Relativity and Quantum Mechanics.

There is some calculus and algebra in each but the math is explained and it's not necessary to understand it because the text is so good in explaining the basics.
 
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