So I was reading the Einstein issue of Discover magazine and it was explaining relativity in a nutshell. It gave me a bunch of cool ideas that I was jotting down on post-its because I couldn't find a sheet of paper. It was fun for me so I thought I would lay them on you . . . all.
It was saying time was not fixed; the rate it passed got slower the faster you moved. Then in parentheses it said "(Gravity also slows the passage of time.)"
On the next page it was talking about gravity and said gravity is mass causing a distortion in space-time.
That really got me thinking, why would a distortion in space-time, gravity, change time in the same way as moving fast.
Then it hit me, space time is not merely distorted by gravity, space-time is always moving toward the center of gravity. Thus if you are motionless relative to the center of gravity you are moving quickly through space time. (or space time is moving quickly through you.)
If mass only distorted space-time in the wake of massive objects would be a region where it would push less massive objects away from each other or at least slow the rate at which they were drawn together. I've never heard of that so I think I'm right space-time is like a moving fluid.
That felt good so I kept reading and thinking.
Why does space-time affect matter why are matter (mass) and space time interacting. They must share part of their nature in common or they would not be rubbing up against each other like that. Either that or they both had way too much to drink.
Then there is energy and it also makes space-time behave like a fluid. Electromagnetic waves are ripple like changes in density of space-time. The more dense areas can behave like matter sometimes because matter also creates areas of higher density of space time. Higher density areas space-time in waves could be broken down into packets of denser space time and thereby behave like both particles and waves. I guess that could also explain particles that appear to have no mass.
OK, since mass and energy both interact with space-time, they are both in contact with space time in some way and therefore they share part of their nature in common with space-time. Another way to say that is they are related to space-time. A relationship can be expressed with and equation. In the same way Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared. E=mc2
You could say
(E=mc2) X some unknown factor = Space-Time
If I had to guess what the unknown factor was that could convert mater and energy into empty space I would have to say a black hole. Matter and energy go in but they don't come out. Another thing about black holes is that their super mass does not remain constant, if they are not feeding on mass around them they slowly loose mass and die.
Right now the biggest mystery in cosmology is why the expansion of the universe is expanding at a faster and faster rate. They are creating ideas like dark energy to explain the unknown repulsive force that is pushing the universe out.
Matter and energy being converted into space-time could explain why the universe is expanding faster and faster.
If Black holes are creating empty space that empty space is not showing up in areas of lots of matter. We would have detected that because it would show as objects near each other would not be attracted to each other as quickly as the force of gravity would predict. Therefore this new empty space would have to be added to the universe in areas with the least matter.
It just so happens that is exactly what cosmologists see in the expansion of the universe. The arrangement of galaxies in the universe has been described being like bubbles; mater filled areas surrounding large rounded mostly empty pockets of space with the most matter in areas where those "bubbles" meet.
Ok so now that I have answered a few of the greatest mysteries of cosmology and physics where do I pick up my check? This has to be worth a payday, who's going to cough it up?
3 comments:
An excellent exercise in logic!
Some of those assertions - deductions must indeed be true
Simple logic really is a vehicle for for expanding scientific theory. Einstein also said "If you can't explain your theory to a child you probably don't understand it yourself."
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