SPACE-TIME | A NOVEL THEORY ON INTERSTELLAR DYNAMICS
“The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”
Albert Einstein
Humans cannot return to their home planet once they travel beyond Vega, a distinct star in the cosmos. The main reason is the limitation of light travel, which causes darkness to prevail after a specific period. As the speed of light is absolute and unsurpassable, time becomes relative for a stationary and moving observer, i.e., when a moving object approaches the speed of light, time begins to slow down relative to a static observer. In other words, a moving object experiences time dilation.
This phenomenon was verified by the atomic clock experiment in 1971. The final result showed that the moving clock’s time differed from the static clock’s by a hundred billionth of a second. As the distance between the two objects increases, the link between the past, present, and future becomes more prominent. The present moment for the moving observer aligns with past and future events accordingly.
Energy and mass are interchangeable. According to Einstein’s equation, the speed of light plays a quantifying role in the process. When an object gains momentum, its mass increases. And close to the speed of light, it would require infinite energy to continue, which is not possible. Light, itself, is composed of photons, which are massless particles.
What is Space-Time?
The convergence of space-time is a phenomenon best explained by three distinctive characteristics: Light speed, gravity, and distance from the stationary observer.
MOTION AFFECTS THE PASSAGE OF TIME
Travelling far or in the direction of the static object aligns the individual with past and future events respectively, provided the distance is massive between them. According to Brian Greene, the famous American physicist, time can be sliced into different portions, each of which carries a given set of actions by living organisms in a specific period. It is called a ‘Now Slice’.
This slice is based on the moving observer’s angle towards the source. If it is directed towards the past, the individual’s slice will fall on events passed by the static source. On the other hand, if it is motioned towards the future, the slice will connect with events that won’t happen for the source in the coming years. In a nutshell, every living creature’s ‘Now Slice’ relates to past, present, or future events.
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goI9xtuTs70
STRONGER THE GRAVITY, THE SLOWER TIME MOVES
According to General Relativity, celestial bodies like the Sun curve the space-time’s fabric due to their masses and energies, causing lighter cosmic objects to move in an orbit. Gravity is considered as an effect. Its strength depends on the depth of the curvature and the mass of the main source. With regards to time, it moves more slowly near massive objects or strong gravitational fields.
In outer space, time travels slower than on Earth. The renowned cosmonaut, Sergei Krikalev experienced time dilation of 20 ms after spending 803 days on the Mir Space Station. NASA’s Twins Study is another prime example. For an astronaut who takes a return tour to a massive black hole, several years would skip by on the Green Planet.
PHOTONS MOVE AT LIGHT SPEED IN DIFFERENT MEDIUMS
Light speed is constant for stationery or mobile observers, in strong gravitational pulls or high velocities. It moves at approx. 671 million miles per hour. According to Einstein, if an individual or object travels at the speed of light, space and time adjust accordingly. Their dimensions and space change shape, while time locomotes at the same pace. As for a static person or thing, space does not warp, but time slows down.
The speed of light does not change in different media, such as air, water, or glass. Although phase velocity slows down through the material, the photons continue to travel at 186,000 miles per second.
“Since everything which is moved into a certain place, it is plain that the place where the thing moving or being moved shall be, must exist first”
Archytas
Proven Experiments on Space-Time Theory
Gravity Probe B
Source: Stanford University
In the 1950s, Dr. Leonard Schiff, a renowned physicist in Stanford University, initiated an experiment to prove space-time curvature with the assistance of William Fairbank and Robert Cannon. An advanced gyroscope was selected to measure curved spacetime (Geodetic effect) and change in the Earth’s pull (Frame-dragging effect).
According to Schiff, the gyroscope’s axis tilt was the experiment’s prime outcome. In normal circumstances, the instrument’s axis would not incline, but if Einstein’s supposition were true, it would alter direction with the same angle. The geodetic effect value was estimated at 6,606 milliarcseconds while the frame-dragging effect value was calculated at 39 milliarcseconds.
Gravity Probe B, as it was called, was one of the longest experiments in scientific history. The project was launched into space in April 2004, promising to prove Einstein’s predictions. And it met all expectations. The gyroscope’s axis was tilted by the exact values forecasted by the novel scientist.
Brad Parkinson, a renowned physicist at Stanford University stated, “This is the first time you could see Einstein’s effect with the naked eye.”
Casimir Effect
Source: Physics.aps.org
Empty space entails invisible fields, discrete atoms, energies, and other distinguishable attributes. In 1948, a Dutch physicist, Hendrik Casimir proposed an experiment that would prove their existence. He stated that two uncharged, parallel metal plates, when placed at a distance of less than a micron, would come together in space.
Theory
Vacuum or quantum fluctuations are ever-present in space, due to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. These variations determine the creation and eradication of virtual particles. Unlike atoms, these particles are short-lived, existing in intermediary states during interactions. Virtual particles act as the basis for differences in the EM field.
Electromagnetic fields have a distinctive spectrum with varying frequencies. Inside a cavity (gap between solid objects), the larger wavelengths do not fit. Only integer multiples of half wavelengths can function, causing the field to amplify and link with a ‘cavity resonance’. Other wavelengths cause the field to suppress.
The change in quantum fluctuations depends on the connection between its frequencies and cavity resonance. When both coincide, low energy density and a net attractive force is developed, causing the plates to combine.
Herman Minkowski – The Idea Behind Space Time
Besides achieving feats in the world of mathematics, Herman Minkowski etched his name in the field of cosmology. He laid the foundation for the Special Theory of Relativity, mathematically. Moreover, he coined the name ‘space time’ after studying Einstein’s theory, which stated that distance is not an absolute quantity and time is a relative quantity, both dependent on the reference system.
With no distinctive difference between the two quantities, Minkowski stated that a fourth dimension of time can be merged with the three dimensions of space to be called ‘space-time’.
Einstein, at first, didn’t pay heed to Minkowski’s work and statement but acknowledged his contribution in a 1916 paper:
“The generalization of the theory of relativity has been facilitated considerably by Minkowski, a mathematician who was the first one to recognize the formal equivalence of space coordinates and the time coordinate, and utilized this in the construction of the theory.”
Is Time Travel Possible?
Knowing that the past, present, and future are non-distinctive phases, only a single key is required to unlock time travel: A mass or object travelling at the speed of light. ‘Time’ will tell, whether it’s an achievable or unrealistic task for mankind.
Additional Video Links
Casimir Effect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgJj49ws478
Space & Time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrDtRbFPnRw
Physics & Philosophy of Time Travel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=See1bsDoJ8I
Einstein’s Theory of Relativity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8ZO5XvHORI