Space Time
Assumptions
“There has never been a law of physics that did not demand
‘space’ and ‘time’ for its statement.”
John Archibald Wheeler
Starting Assumption: Physics today has a large body of experimental observations and mathematical equations that correspond to the experimental observations. Therefore, on a superficial level it would appear that we have a good theoretical understanding of nature up to a limit that will be called the frontier of knowledge. However, there are many counter intuitive physical interpretations of the mathematical equations and experimental observations. This book proposes alternative physical interpretations that fit both the equations and the experiments, but offer improved conceptual understanding and new insights.
If we are looking for the fabled “theory of everything", it is best to start the quest with the simplest possible starting assumption. Only if the simplest assumption is proven to be inadequate, should we reluctantly move on to a more complex assumption. When I examined the similarities between light confined in a reflecting box and particles, I was struck by a big idea. This idea is:
Basic Assumption: The universe is only spacetime.
This idea will be taken as a basic assumption for the remainder of this book. If this simple starting assumption is correct, it should be possible to invent a model of the universe that uses only the properties of 4 dimensional spacetime. Ultimately, all matter, energy, forces, fields and laws of physics should logically be obtainable from just 4 dimensional spacetime. This is a large project that encompasses all of physics. It grew into this book length explanation rather than a few technical papers.
Initially, this might seem impossible because spacetime appears to be just a quiet vacuum that possesses three spatial dimensions plus time. However, the quantum mechanical model of spacetime has a vast energy density also known as vacuum energy, quantum fluctuations, zero
“There has never been a law of physics that did not demand
‘space’ and ‘time’ for its statement.”
John Archibald Wheeler
Starting Assumption: Physics today has a large body of experimental observations and mathematical equations that correspond to the experimental observations. Therefore, on a superficial level it would appear that we have a good theoretical understanding of nature up to a limit that will be called the frontier of knowledge. However, there are many counter intuitive physical interpretations of the mathematical equations and experimental observations. This book proposes alternative physical interpretations that fit both the equations and the experiments, but offer improved conceptual understanding and new insights.
If we are looking for the fabled “theory of everything", it is best to start the quest with the simplest possible starting assumption. Only if the simplest assumption is proven to be inadequate, should we reluctantly move on to a more complex assumption. When I examined the similarities between light confined in a reflecting box and particles, I was struck by a big idea. This idea is:
Basic Assumption: The universe is only spacetime.
This idea will be taken as a basic assumption for the remainder of this book. If this simple starting assumption is correct, it should be possible to invent a model of the universe that uses only the properties of 4 dimensional spacetime. Ultimately, all matter, energy, forces, fields and laws of physics should logically be obtainable from just 4 dimensional spacetime. This is a large project that encompasses all of physics. It grew into this book length explanation rather than a few technical papers.
Initially, this might seem impossible because spacetime appears to be just a quiet vacuum that possesses three spatial dimensions plus time. However, the quantum mechanical model of spacetime has a vast energy density also known as vacuum energy, quantum fluctuations, zero