What is time?

J

jbmckee

Temporal Novice
Here is an excerpt from an article in a new
e-zine called Deep Thinking.

This particular article is attempting to define
what "time" is.

Let me know what you think.

*******************

...what is time?

In its most fundamental essence?


...Before that initial event of creation,
sometimes referred to as the Big Bang, resulted
in the formation of our universe, time did not
exist. It is a space-time continuum
that was created.

So, which is what? How exactly are the two
elements related?

In their most fundamental essence, space is the
existence and time is the event.

To elaborate, space is the existence and state
of all the physical material that constitutes
the universe. Time is the animation of that
physical material.

In other words, if time were suddenly to no
longer exist, the entire universe would still
exist, but it would be frozen in place. When
the universe changes state in any way, that IS
time.

To expand the definition:

Time is the continuous progression of distinct
increments of existence called an instant.
The progression of one instant to the next is an event.

What do I mean by distinct increments of existence?

What I mean is that an instant is the smallest
divisible unit of time. Time is the progression
of these units or 'time particles' if you will.

Hey, why not? Everything else in the universe
is comprised of a conglomeration of fundamental
particles. Why would time be any different?

For the duration of each distinct increment or
instant, the physical existence, space, is frozen
in place. Space remains frozen until the next
event, or progression of instants. The state of
physical existence in one instant dictates what
the state of physical existence will be in the
next instant. Time is the transition of one
state of existence to another state.

Furthermore, each fundamental particle that
constitutes the physical universe possesses its
own time characteristic and has its own particular
length of instant and rate of events. The length
or duration of every instant for each fundamental
particle is influenced by motion and gravity.
The faster a particle is moving, the longer the
instant. Likewise, the more intense the gravity,
the longer the instant. And, the longer the
instant, the slower the event rate and, thus,
the slower the passing of time.

This would also explain how time passing at
different speeds depending on influences of
motion and gravity is subjective. In other
words, an hour is still an hour to you whether
you are sitting next to the Sun, traveling at
close to the speed of light, or sitting at home
on Earth watching TV. This is because it is
the progression of events that causes the
sensation of time passing. There is no
sensation of time passing for the duration of
an instant. Thus, an instant could be long or
short, but the sensation of time passing would
be the same.

***************************

Go to http://www.jbmckee.com/deep/time.html
to read the article in its entirety.

JB
 
If time is transitional from state to state (on an incremental scale) of physical existance, this describes a ‘continuum' (ie. continuous) and therefore disallows for ‘discrete packets or particles of time'. Earlier the article states that "time is the animation of.... material" and as stated above "space remains frozen...". We know from empirical data that at absolute zero (0Kelvin = - 459Fahrenheit) the atoms of physical material remain ‘at rest', that is no motion. Time continues during this phase the material is in stasis, time does not stop- however the ‘animation' of the material has.

Ah, the more intense the gravity, the more space and the accompanying matter (including photons<quanta>) is affected, not time. This has been the essence of relativistic studies and empirically proven via satellite measurements of Mercury during its transition behind the Sun as observed through the limb of the sun. The ‘fabric' of space is warped (ie. the term ‘gravity well') within high gravity fields, not time. Time remains a constant. The warping or folding of space (the physical) allows for transition times between points on opposing sides of the warp to be shorter. This is what the theory behind wormhole travel or ‘warp' travel. In essence, if you could manipulate the shape of space around you via gravimetric means, you could make time, and therefore travel between points shorter (or longer) based on the way you shape space. Remember, space is 3-dimensional and not to be thought of on a planer existence. Just using Newtonian physics, and applying it simply to the above, the formula d=rt, you can see that by decreasing the distance (by space folding) and increasing your rate (velocity), the ‘time' it would take to traverse could be very short.

Remember, that according to quantum mechanics, the more momentum an object has, the shorter its wavelength. The shorter the wavelength, the faster the particle and therefore, shorter the instant. Gravity interaction with quanta, speeds up the quanta and shortens its wavelength and ergo, the faster the particle, not slower (within an intense gravitational field).
 
Either that or time and space is the double-helix of the universe as we know it. Sometimes it's just the simple things that should clarify everything. Oh well.
 
It's interesting to muse about things like this, but take this point into consideration. If I were to ask any one of you to describe time, i would get a multitude of answers, most describing it as a line of some kind, a path through which matter flows, a medium in which for things to exist, just as electricity travels though a conductor. I believe this is a narrow view. Until we can dissect and interact with time on our own terms, we can never know exactly what it is. I tend to take a broader view of it. My opinion is that time is just another ingredient in this big bowl of soup we call existance. I also don't believe that time is linear, but that we just percieve it as linear. We don't move around space linearly, so, why would space move through time linearly? Linear time might just be our rationalization to a phenomenon that we can't quite comprehend but can observe the effects of. Then, as analytical people, we attempt to explain that linear illusion as "time lines".

We conquered one dimensional existance by just being, then we conquered two dimensional existance by becoming physically mobile, the third we conquered by intelligence by devising machine to break the third dimension, so it seems almost inevitable that the fourth dimension will fall to us as well, although we might need to find a different method, as did DiVinci and the Wright brothers. OK, I'm done.

Dodger
 
If, as the article states, time began as a result of the Big Bang, then it seems that time will move in the current forward direction but slow down as the energy from the Big Bang is used up. Then time will reverse at an increasing rate when the universe begins to compress again.
 
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